Protests in Kashmir defy restrictions

Hundreds clash with Indian forces as U.N. holds rare meeting on the disputed region.

NEW DELHI — Hundreds of people protested an unprecedented security crackdown and clashed with police Friday in Indian-controlled Kashmir, as India’s government said it was constantly reviewing the situation in the disputed region and the restrictions there will be removed over the next few days.

The United Nations Security Council met to discuss Jammu and Kashmir for the first time in decades, and Pakistan’s ambassador to the world body said the session showed that people in the region “may be locked up ... but their voices were heard today.” The Security Council took no action during the closed meeting, which was called by China and Pakistan.

A heavy troop presence and a near-constant curfew and communications blackout remained in place in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir for a 12th day.

The government imposed the lockdown to avoid a violent reaction to its decision on Aug. 5 to downgrade the autonomy of the Muslim-majority Kashmir region.

Both India and Pakistan claim the Himalayan region, which is divided between the rivals. The decision by the Hindu-led government in New Delhi has raised tensions with Pakistan and touched off anger in the Indian-controlled region.

Demonstrators took to the streets in Srinagar, summer capital of the Indiancontrolled region, after Friday prayers. They carried green Islamic flags and signs reading “Stop Genocide in Kashmir, Wake Up World.”

Some threw stones and clashed with security forces, who responded with tear gas.

Earlier in the day, a senior Indian official in Kashmir, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, confirmed that there would be some loosening of restrictions on residents, saying that landline phone service would be restored gradually and schools reopened Monday.

Subrahmanyam also said that government offices had started functioning normally. He said Friday prayers were held peacefully and life in 12 of the region’s 22 districts was almost back to normal.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.N., Maleeha Lodhi, called the Security Council meeting “the first and not the last step.”

“It will only end when justice is done to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Lodhi said.