Indian police stop Kashmir procession, 80 hurt
SRINAGAR, India, Jan 6 (Reuters) - At least 80 people were wounded on Tuesday when Indian police broke up a procession by thousands of Shi'ite Muslims in the disputed region of Kashmir, police said.
The procession was marking Ashura, a ritual period of mourning for Shi'ites marking the death of the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.
Public gatherings, including religious processions as well as marches by separatists, have not been allowed in Kashmir since a bloody rebellion against Indian rule broke out in 1989.
The mourners, many beating their chests with their fists, chanted "La ilaha illalah" (There is no god but Allah). Police said the mourners were led by a separatist group in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital.
Stone throwing Shi'ites clashed with police in several parts of Srinagar after the procession was stopped, witnesses said, and police fired teargas.
"More than 150 people were detained," police officer Parvez Mohammed said.
During the first Muslim month of Muharram, Shi'ites across the world mourn the death of the Prophet's grandson Imam Hussein in the Iraqi city of Kerbala in 680.
Tuesday's procession in Srinagar was headed by members of Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen Jammu Kashmir, part of the region's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference.
"We strongly condemn the excessive use of force and police brutality," said Moulana Abbas Ansari, a leading Shi'ite priest and chief of Ittihad-ul-Muslimeen.
Officials say more than 47,000 people have been killed in two decades of violence involving Indian troops and Islamist militants in Kashmir. Separatists put the toll at 100,000. (Reporting By Sheikh Mushtaq; Editing By Bappa Majumdar and Paul Tait) (For the latest Reuters news on India see in.reuters.com, for blogs see blogs.reuters.com/in/)
