SRINAGAR: Kashmir: Hundreds of thousands of demon Stators marched through the streets of Srinagar Friday to press demands for independence for the predominantly Muslim border region. It was the largest such demonstration in decades.
The 400,000 Kashmiri protesters streamed into the heart of the city, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, largely by foot. They eventually converged on the office of the United Nations military observer’s group, where they delivered statements demanding a United Nations-supervised plebiscite in the Indian controlled zone and presumably in the adjoining area under Pakistan control, which is called Azad, or Free, Kashmir.
A senior police official said that more than 400,000 people, or more than half the population of Srinagar city, were on the streets, but that they remained peaceful. The rallies, which had a festive air, began this morning and continued after sunset.
Some demonstrators said they had traveled on buses from the town of Anantnag, about 30 miles south of here, and many Kashmiris, wearing their traditional loose gowns, known as phirin, sat on the tops of buses, waving the green, white and red flags of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation front and shouting slogans favoring independence.
In downtown Srinagar, especially near the United Nations office, young men served sweet watery milk to demonstrators from large drums. The police watched quietly from a distance but did not intervene. Most of them were armed with bamboo staves, but a few had rifles. Few paramilitary troops were visible. The police apparently controlling the situation were state law-enforcement officials.
The demonstrators included many women and children. The Pakistani flag and the flags of several militant organizations, like the Allah Tigers, the Leagues, were also prominently displayed. Many joined the processions after the noon prayers at the mosques scattered across the city.
The demonstrations also coincide with a major Muslim festival and a Hindu festival. Large gathering are expected at mosques and temples to mark the separate occasions. The curfew has been lifted for the first time in about seven weeks.
Flags of the Kashmir Liberation from fluttered from shops, roofs and eyen a police traffic control point. Men and women waved the flags as they walked and young men shouted slogans through the day from the roof of a building opposite the United Nations office.
“I’ve been receiving these memorandums for several days,” said a United Nations official as he accepted another one handed through the iron gates at the entrance of the mission. Samil protests by those demanding a plebiscite have taken place outside the office for the last three days, but these gatherings were the largest.
The northern state has been the scene of violent protests and a militant separatist movement for more than a year and the confrontations have escalated in recent weeks.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 2, 1990
