An estimated 10,000 people took to the streets of Kashmir’s capital city of Srinagar on Friday, protesting against the Indian government’s decision to revoke their special rights as an autonomous state.



The military and police have been cracking down since the autonomy was revoked, severely restricting travel within Kashmir and cutting off virtually all communication, to the point that many Kashmiris were believed as of Thursday to be unaware what had happened. Friday, many of those people were likely informed of what happened at mosque, and used the weekly mosque sermon to organize protests.



Crackdowns are continuing apace, with police and paramilitary forces out moving against the demonstrators, firing pellets at civilians, badly wounding many of them, and also firing tear gas into crowds.



Protesters rallying at the Aiwa bridge were declared by police to be in violation of an order that prohibits public assembly of more than four people, with police charging into the crowd and forcing some into the water below.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz