Seventy-six protesters have been killed and more than 7,000 wounded in clashes since July in the worst violence in six years in the occupied territory. Two police officers and more than 5,000 security personnel have been wounded.
Authorities decided to impose a curfew and keep an aerial watch after reviewing the situation ahead of the festival, a police spokesman said on Monday.
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On Tuesday, Kashmiri separatists are scheduled to march to the United Nations Military Observers Group India Pakistan (UNMOGIP) Office in Srinagar, the state capital.
“It has become imperative to impose a strict curfew . . . in view of the separatist march,” the spokesman said.
Mobile internet and cell phone services have been partially blocked ahead of the festival, the second such disruption since July 9, the day after security services shot dead Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old separatist known for his calls for freedom on social media.
Wani’s death came amid a rise in violence and separatist sentiment across the state, which has been at the centre of a decades-long tussle between India and Pakistan.
