Protests in Srinagar after arrest of Hurriyat leaders

HELD SRINAGAR: Demonstrators set fire to an Indian flag and hurled rocks at the riot police here on Friday, as protests over the arrest of pro-freedom leaders turned violent.
Hundreds took to the streets of Srinagar, the capital of Indian-Held Kashmir, to vent their anger at the arrest of Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Musarrat Alam Bhat after the latter fronted a rally on Thursday to welcome the former after his return from New Delhi where he underwent treatment at a hospital for three months.
The demonstrators waved Pakistani flags and raised pro-freedom and pro-Pakistan slogans.Violence erupted soon after worshippers emerged from Friday prayers in the city’s mosques, chanting pro-Pakistan slogans and “we want freedom”, according to an AFP reporter on the scene.
The police tried to disperse the crowds by firing tear gas and then wielding their batons. At least 16 people were injured during the clashes, including three policemen, an officer who was not authorised to speak to the media told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Bhat, who was released in March after several years behind bars, was arrested early Friday at his home in Srinagar, a day after the police registered a case against him.“He (Bhat) has been arrested after a case for unlawful activity was registered against him,” K. Rajendra, the state’s director general of police, told AFP.
The case stems from a rally on Wednesday organised to welcome another pro-freedom leader, Syed Ali Geelani, on his return to Srinagar from New Delhi where he had spent the last three months receiving medical care.
Although that rally passed off peacefully, television images of Bhat leading a chorus of his supporters chanting “jeeve jeeve Pakistan (long live Pakistan)” and other slogans against India’s rule of the disputed region triggered widespread condemnation from Indian politicians and the media.