Indian authorities begin easing clampdown in Kashmir

Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have begun restoring landline phone services after a nearly two-week unprecedented security crackdown and news blackout following a decision to downgrade the majority-Muslim region’s autonomy.

Kashmiri women shout slogans at a protest in Srinagar on Friday

Administrator Shahid Choudhary says restrictions are being lifted in most areas and government offices will open on Saturday for service delivery.

Security forces that blanketed the region remain on high alert as hundreds of people took to the streets for an anti-India protest after Friday prayers in Srinagar, the main city in the divided Himalayan region.

Kashmiri child looks from behind a fence at a protest site in Srinagar.

The UN Security Council met to discuss Kashmir for the first time in decades, and Pakistan’s ambassador said the session showed that people in the region “may be locked up ... but their voices were heard today.”

Associated Press