As Kashmiris in the India-administered portion of the disputed Himalayan region observe Martyrs Day, more activists face an uncertain future in custody, including a leader tipped to replace Syed Ali Geelani as the new head of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, EDNews.net reports citing TRT World.
Regional security forces took senior pro-liberation leader Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai into preventive detention, as well as several members of the outlawed Jamaat e Islami group on Sunday, under the country's Public Safety Act, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted police chief Dilbagh Singh, as saying.
The move came ahead of the annual Martyrs Day in Kashmir which honours the memory of 22 Kashmiri Muslims killed by a Hindu ruler on July 13, 1931.
This year, the day was dropped from the list of official holidays by the regional administration which is under the direct rule of the Indian government following the abrogation of the region's special autonomous status in 2019.
Singh said Sehrai and roughly a dozen members of Jamaat e Islami were detained and were likely to be booked under the Public Safety Act, which allows for detainees to be held for up to two years without trial.