Cities are empty as armed security forces outnumber local police and all communications remain blocked
Eid is just days away, and the central market in Srinagar, Lal Chowk, should be bustling with people. Every year crowds flock to its stalls to buy clothes, jewellery and sweets. Sheep and goats – traditionally offered as a sacrifice – are brought to the market by nomads from the Kashmir mountains.
But this week Lal Chowk was deserted. On Wednesday, only two men – armed Indian police – stood opposite the market’s shuttered shops and ice-cream parlours.
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