At least 300 Kashmiri politicians detained to quell protests over status

Indian security forces personnel patrol a deserted road during restrictions after the government scrapped special status for Kashmir, in Srinagar August 7, 2019. (Reuters)

Indian authorities have detained at least 300 politicians and separatists to quell protests in Kashmir over the withdrawal of its special status, a police officer, local leaders and media said on Thursday, in one of the biggest crackdowns in years.

Since Sunday, the government has shut down mobile networks, the internet and banned public gatherings in the largest city Srinagar after stripping the Muslim majority region of the right to make its own laws and lifting a decades-old ban on people from outside the state from buying property there.