SRINAGAR: A security clampdown and a strike called by leaders fighting against Indian rule shut most of India-held Kashmir on Sunday, a day after Indian soldiers killed seven civilians and three fighters in the disputed region.

Armed police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear fanned out across the Himalayan region in anticipation of anti-India protests and clashes. Shops and businesses closed in other areas with no security restrictions.

At least seven civilians were martyred and over three dozen injured on Saturday when Indian forces fired at anti-India protesters following a gun battle that left three fighters and a soldier dead.

Residents accused troops of directly spraying gunfire into the crowds and killing at least two civilians, including a teenage student, away from the site of the gun battle.

Police claimed in a statement that they regretted the killings but that the protesters had come “dangerously close” to the fighting.

Leaders who challenge India’s sovereignty over Kashmir said the killings were part of India’s state policy and called for three days of mourning and a general shutdown in the region.

Authorities stopped train services and cut mobile phone internet in Srinagar and other restive towns, and reduced connection speeds in other parts of the Kashmir Valley, a common government tactic to prevent anti-India demonstrations from being organised and stop the dissemination of protest videos by Kashmiris.

Meanwhile, an influential leader, 72-year-old Syed Salahuddin, who is based in Azad Kashmir, condemned Saturday’s killings while asking Pakistan “to stop begging India for talks and instead aggressively help Kashmir struggle on all fronts”, according to a statement published online by Greater Kashmir, Kashmir’s largest English daily.

“How long shall the global community keep watching the Indian brutality in Kashmir like a mute spectator?” Salahuddin asked. “As a party to the dispute, Pakistan needs to move beyond offering moral and political support to oppressed Kashmiris.”

The martyrdom of the seven civilians and three fighters angered Kashmiris and sparked anti-India protests and clashes at several places in the disputed region. Kashmiris deeply resent Indian rule and support the fighters’ cause that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

In recent years, mainly young Kashmiris have displayed open solidarity with the fighters and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during gunfights.

Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown in the region.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2018