In Kashmir, Moharram processions marked by restrictions

Shia Kashmiri during a religious procession on the occasion of Moharram, in Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir, August 8, 2022. © Dar Yasin/AP

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1 min

Moharram, the lunar month during which Shiites commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, gave rise to processions in Kashmir.

Indian authorities have imposed significant restrictions in this Muslim-majority region for fear that this ritual will be used as a platform by separatists.

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With our correspondent in New Delhi,

Sébastien Farcis

Sunday, August 7, the police banned any procession in Kashmir for the eighth day of this religious month of Moharram.

Mobile internet has been cut in part of the capital, Srinagar, and dozens of people have been arrested for defying restrictions.

This Tuesday, the procession is permitted, but cannot go through its traditional circuit in central Srinagar.

It has been 30 years since the start of the separatist insurgency in Kashmir that the Indian military has severely restricted this Shia commemoration. 

 For Shiites, this commemoration symbolizes resistance against cruelty and the oppressor.

So some resorted to political messages during the procession, but this is less the case today,

says a young pilgrim

.

The Indian army protects the Hindu pilgrimages in the region, why can't it do so for the Muslim processions?

It is unfair.

 »

Three years ago, New Delhi revoked Kashmir's autonomy status and has since claimed that the region has returned to calm.

But the army still has several hundred thousand men on site, and Kashmiris live under tight control: local journalists are intimidated or imprisoned and foreign media are not allowed to go there.

► To read also: Since the arrival of the Taliban, Shiites still feel targeted

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