Fresh protests erupt in Kashmir on Martyrs' Day

Srinagar: Police fired live ammunition in the air and used tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters who attacked pro-Indian political activists during a memorial ceremony on Sunday in the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.

Several thousand protesters shouted slogans and threw stones at activists from the National Conference, the region's largest pro-Indian political party, in a bid to prevent them and other activists from holding a ceremony in Srinagar's Martyrs' Graveyard.

Commemoration

July 13 is observed as "Martyrs' Day" in Kashmir, and traditionally both separatists and pro-Indian Kashmiris commemorate the day in 1931 when the region's Hindu king ordered 21 Kashmiri Muslims to be executed in a bid to put down an uprising.

On Sunday, the National Conference supporters responded by throwing stones back at the separatists and police stepped in firing bullets in the air and tear gas canisters in a bid to separate the two factions, said Kuldeep Khoda, the state police chief.

One news photographer was injured during the clashes, said Bashir Ahmad, a senior police officer, adding that police had no reports of injuries among each group of the protesters.

"We'll not stop anybody visiting Martyr's Graveyard to offer homage, but we'll not allow anyone to disrupt the order," Khoda said.

Later on Sunday, thousands of separatist supporters marched peacefully to the graveyard after daily Muslim prayers.