Police break up Muslim gathering in Kashmir, dozens detained

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police have detained dozens of people in Indian-controlled Kashmir as they dispersed Shiite Muslims who attempted to participate in processions marking the Muslim month of Muharram. Scores of Muslims on Sunday defied severe security restrictions in parts of the main city of Srinagar and took to streets chanting religious slogans. The restrictions include a ban on the Shiite religious procession. Muharram is among the holiest months for Shiites across the world but its processions have been banned in Indian-controlled Kashmir since an armed insurgency broke out in 1989 demanding the region’s independence from India or its merger with neighboring Pakistan. Kashmiri Muslims have long complained that the government is curbing their religious freedoms.