Kashmir lockdown continues after leader’s death
SRINAGAR, India – Indian authorities enforced a security lockdown and a near-total communications blackout for a second day in disputed Kashmir on Friday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top resistance leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi.
Geelani's death at age 91 on late Wednesday and the ensuing crackdown on public movement and communications by Indian authorities highlighted the turmoil seething just below the surface in the Himalayan region of achingly stunning beauty.
Wearing flak jackets and riot gear, armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled streets in Srinagar, the region's main city, and ordered residents to stay indoors.
Geelani, who had multiple ailments and was under house arrest for years, was buried by Indian authorities without any family members present after police snatched his body early Thursday, said his son, Naseem Geelani.
Police denied that Syed Ali Geelani's body had been forcibly buried and called it “baseless rumors” by “some vested interests.”
India's archrival Pakistan, which administers another part of Kashmir, observed a day of mourning on Thursday.