Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Shops shut in Kashmir to mark 'black day' anniversary

Shops shut in Kashmir to mark 'black day' anniversary

HUNDREDS of extra police and troops were deployed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday as separatist groups called for a shutdown to mark a "black day" on the second anniversary of New Delhi ending its special status.

Prime minister Narendra Modi's government scrapped the Muslim-majority region's partial autonomy on August 5, 2019, and split it into two federal territories. Thousands were arrested, scores of whom remain behind bars two years on.


Security forces erected numerous new checkpoints and barricades across Srinagar, with personnel in bulletproof gear checking vehicles and frisking residents.

Suspected rebels fired live shots in the air in the heart of the congested old town Srinagar where a low-intensity explosive device also went off, witnesses said.

In the Sopore area, unknown rebels fired at police as authorities tried to force shopkeepers observing the shutdown to open their doors, an officer said. The district police, however, denied the incident took place.

Top separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, 90, had called for a general shutdown to mark a "black day" in protest against "India's naked aggression", in a Twitter statement by his Pakistan-based representative.

The call was supported by several smaller separatist groups who also challenge India's rule over Kashmir.

One group, headed by Kashmir's incarcerated chief cleric and politician Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, appealed to "citizens of India and the world at large" to see how India's actions two years ago "complicated" the dispute over the territory further.

On Thursday (5) most shops remained closed in Srinagar and there were few cars on the road, but police in the capital city were seen asking shopkeepers to open.

Many businessmen, without wishing to be named, said police had threatened them. Local reporters said officers were breaking locks on shutters.

"I was recording video of shuttered shops when police officers arrived and took my photos while I was working and accused myself and journalists of instigating a shutdown," photojournalist Umer Asif said.

Witnesses and traders in three towns in the volatile southern Kashmir valley also said police were threatening and forcing shopkeepers to open their stores.

Former Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who along with dozens of other local politicians spent months incarcerated after being arrested in the 2019 clampdown, led a protest in Srinagar that police stopped from marching to the city centre.

"When unbridled oppression is unleashed & gross injustice heaped there is no other choice but to resist to exist," she tweeted.

Bashir Ahmad, a shopkeeper in downtown Srinagar, said that since the "injustice" of what happened in 2019, people no longer feel "safe and secure".

"Anyone who speaks up is being crushed without reason," he said.

Federal minister Jitendra Singh said in an editorial in the Indian Express daily that Kashmir was now moving toward "deepening democracy, fulfilling people's aspirations, (and) increasing economic growth".

About 1,000 people marched in Muzaffarabad - the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir - where protesters chanted anti-Indian slogans and burnt the country's flags.

In Islamabad, Pakistan's president and foreign minister led a rally of about 500 people while traffic was halted for a minute's silence in other major cities.

"Today India is destroying regional stability through its rogue actions & state-sponsored terrorism in contravention of all international laws & norms," Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan tweeted.

More For You

indian-army-reuters

Indian security force personnel stand guard at the site of the attack on tourists in Baisaran near Pahalgam in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, April 24, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Indian and Pakistani troops exchange fire along Line of Control

INDIAN and Pakistani troops exchanged fire overnight along the Line of Control in Kashmir, officials from both sides said on Friday.

The exchange took place days after a deadly attack in the region and amid calls from the United Nations for both countries to show "maximum restraint".

Keep ReadingShow less
India declares state mourning for Pope Francis, Modi leads tributes

A sculpture by Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik in Puri, Odisha, on Monday (21)

India declares state mourning for Pope Francis, Modi leads tributes

INDIA began three days of state mourning on Tuesday (22) for the Pope, a rare honour for a foreign religious leader, as prime minister Narendra Modi joined other south Asian and world leaders in paying tributes following his death on Monday (21).

Pope Francis, the 88-year-old leader of 1.4 billion Catholics across the world, died of a stroke, causing a coma and “irreversible” heart failure, the Vatican said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Minority youth face racist content online once a week, report reveals

As many as 95 per cent of respondents reported encountering violent or abusive racist content online. (Photo: iStock)

Minority youth face racist content online once a week, report reveals

MOST young people from black and minority communities in Britain encounter racist content online, a new study revealed, with more than half reporting it damages their sense of safety.

The "Youth, Race and Social Media" report published on Thursday (24) highlighted a troubling picture of online racism and its effects on young people aged 16-24.

Keep ReadingShow less
england-gp-iStock

The researchers analysed data from over 8,500 GPs between 2015 and 2021 as part of the GP work life survey. (Representational image: iStock)

GPs in England’s deprived areas face lower pay, greater pressure: Report

GPs working in the most deprived areas of England earn an average of £5,525 less per year than those in wealthier areas, according to a study by the University of Manchester published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The researchers analysed data from over 8,500 GPs between 2015 and 2021 as part of the GP work life survey.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harry and Meghan urge tougher safeguards to protect children online

Prince Harry criticised tech companies for citing privacy laws to deny access

Getty

Harry and Meghan urge tougher safeguards to protect children online

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have called for stronger protections for children online, warning that not enough is being done to shield young people from the dangers of social media

During a visit to New York, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle unveiled a new memorial dedicated to the memory of children whose families believe harmful online content contributed to their deaths. The installation, named the Lost Screen Memorial, features 50 smartphones, each displaying an image of a child lost to what their families describe as the adverse effects of social media. The memorial was made available to the public for 24 hours.

Keep ReadingShow less