*ISLAMABAD – As the curfew and communications blackout enters the 25th dayin Indian-occupied Kashmir, thousands of Kashmiri citizens continue to bedetained by Indian forces and several have been injured by pellet guns andtear gas, with reports of sporadic protests and stone-pelting.*
According to a CNN reportlink,more than 2,000 people have been detained in occupied Kashmir in the daysleading to, and after, the August 5 revocation of Article 370 of the Indianconstitution, which ended the special status of the occupied valley. Thosedetained include political leaders, elected representatives, lawyers,activists, businessmen, and students.
Residents told CNN that tear gas and pellet guns are being used againstthem and restrictions on movement are still in place.
“The government wants us to believe everything is normal. But we still findout about protests, tear gas, injuries despite the continued communicationblockade,” said shopkeeper Mushtaq Ahmad, 35, a resident of uptownSrinagar. “Everything is still shut in the city and around us, and themovement is almost impossible when the restrictions are in place.”
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Another resident, Farooq Ahmad Qureshi, recounted how he was hit by apellet in the eye on his way to a bakery on August 10. “The doctors whotreated me said I have little chance of regaining (my) sight as threepellets had seriously damaged my eye,” he was quoted as saying.
A doctor in the main hospital of Srinagar said he has treated dozens ofpatients who have sustained eye injuries caused by pellet guns.