60 injured as police and mourners clash in Kashmir

At least 60 people have been injured as Indian police, trying to stop defying mourners in Kashmir, used batons and tear gas against them.

Since 1989, when a rebellion broke out against Indian rule, New Delhi has banned public gatherings and Muharram processions marking the martyrdom anniversary of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein (PBUH), in the year 61 Hijra (680 CE).

On Saturday evening, when police tried to stop the procession, clashes erupted between the mourners and police in Srinagar, the main city of Kashmir.

The police used batons and fired tear gas at the hundreds of stone-throwing mourners. At least 60 were injured, including seven policemen and six photojournalists, news reports said late on Saturday.

More than 50 people were also detained.

The procession was headed by members of Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen Jammu & Kashmir, part of the region’s main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state since an anti-Indian insurgency broke out two decades ago.