Authorities have briefly relaxed a seven-day curfew in Indian-controlled
Kashmir, after weeks of protests have left more than 35 people dead and hundreds
injured.
Residents in Kashmir's main town of Srinagar were allowed to buy
much-needed food and supplies from stores, that briefly re-opened on Saturday.
The curfew was imposed last Sunday by authorities who
hoped to prevent further protests by Muslim separatists who are demanding
independence from India.
A pro-independence group, the Jammu-Liberation
Front, today called for the release of several separatist leaders who have been
detained by police in the last week.
Tensions have run high in the
Himalayan region since June, when the Indian government announced plans to
transfer land in a Muslim-majority area to a Hindu shrine.
Muslim
protests prompted the government to rescind the plan, angering
Hindus.
The initial Muslim protest of the land
transfer has now evolved into demonstrations against India's rule over the
region.
Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India, but claimed by
both. The countries have fought two wars over the disputed
territory.
Islamic separatist groups have been fighting for Kashmir's
independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. Tens of
thousands of people have been killed in insurgency-related violence.