Kashmir : affrontements à श्रीनगर Srinagar – 4 décembre 2011

Police break up marchers in Indian Kashmir, 24 hurt

AFP

4 12 2011

SRINAGAR, India — Some two dozen people were injured Sunday when police broke up religious processions by Shiite Muslims who defied a ban and strict security lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.

Police in riot gear used batons and fired teargas to disperse Shiites in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, a police officer said, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to media.

« We also used water cannon to spray protesters with blue dye, » the officer said, accusing the marchers of defying a ban on processions in Kashmir.

Shiite Muslims throughout the world stage processions and hold rallies during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic Hijra calendar, to mark the anniversary of the death of a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

Authorities have forbidden most processions in Kashmir since the outbreak of insurgency against Indian rule in 1989 on grounds that the emotional religious rituals could be used by separatists to stoke anti-India sentiment.