Protests continue as curfew lifted in parts of Kashmir

People in India-administered Kashmir started trickling out onto the streets on Monday after a 51-day curfew was relaxed in most parts of the valley.

Restrictions on movement were still in place in some parts of Srinagar and Pulwama district where protests continued.

Kashmir has been grappling with its worst unrest in six years that began on July 8 when Indian security forces killed separatist commander Burhan Wani, who was idolised especially by youths, provoking an outpouring of anger.

And on Monday, even though some traffic returned to streets, many shops and businesses remained closed in protest.

Restrictions under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), prohibiting assembly of 10 or more people, also continued to be in place with police and security personnel keeping a strict watch on intra-city travel.

At least 70 people have been killed and 6,000 injured in month-and-a-half of clashes in the Muslim-majority region, many of them wounded by shotgun rounds fired by security forces.

Nearly a thousand people have suffered injuries because of pellet guns, with most being eye injuries, further fuelling the anger against the forces and the government.

Over 4,500 security personnel too have been injured in the ensuing violence.

Leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Interior Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti have repeatedly appealed for calm.

An all-party delegation is also likely to visit the strife-torn state and hold talks with stakeholders.

Kashmir is at the centre of a decades-old rivalry between India and Pakistan, with both countries staking a claim over the territory.

Fighters in Kashmir have for decades fought some 500,000 Indian troops deployed in the territory.

Rights groups say 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting and thousands disappeared after they were taken away by security forces since 1989 when an armed rebellion against Indian rule began.