SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Police in the Indian-administered Kashmir have arrested several Muharram mourners for shouting pro-Palestine slogans and raising a Palestinian flag during a procession on Monday, a prominent Shia leader and member of the Indian parliament said.

Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, a member of parliament from the Srinagar constituency of Jammu and Kashmir, said the police arrested a number of youths for raising pro-Palestine slogans and carrying a Palestine flag during a Muharram procession in Srinagar.

“This is an assault on freedom of expression and that too an expression in favour of the oppressed people. As conveyed through telephonic conversation, the Police should release these men and avoid treating them as criminals,” Mehdi wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the police have filed a case against the mourners under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the newly-instituted criminal code, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, at Kothibagh Police Station in the capital Srinagar, a local online news outlet, Kashmir Dot Com, reported.

The charges include incitement to subversive or unlawful activities and are punishable by a prison term of up to seven years.

Two major Muharram processions along the traditional routes in Srinagar have not been allowed since the anti-India insurgency erupted in 1989. However, last year and this Muharram, the administration allowed a smaller procession in the early morning hours only. It was during this procession that pro-Palestine, anti-Israel and pro-Gaza slogans were shouted.

The biggest Muharram procession along a route in Srinagar continues to be banned despite entreaties by various Shia leaders.

Support for Palestine, Hezbollah and Iran is openly expressed by the Shia community in Kashmir during their religious or political processions.