Kashmir still under lockdown after anti-India leader's death

Indian authorities are enforcing a security lockdown and a near-total communications blackout for a second straight day in disputed Kashmir after the death of top resistance leader Syed Ali Geelani

SRINAGAR, India -- Indian authorities enforced a security lockdown and a near-total communications blackout for a second straight day in disputed Kashmir on Friday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top resistance leader who became the emblem of the region’s defiance against New Delhi. Geelani's death at age 91 on late Wednesday and the ensuing crackdown on public movement and communications by Indian authorities highlighted the turmoil seething just below the surface in the Himalayan region of achingly stunning beauty. Wearing flak jackets and riot gear, armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled streets in Srinagar, the region’s main city, and ordered residents to stay indoors. Razor wire, steel barricades and perpendicularly parked armored vehicles blocked streets and roads in the city as officials anticipated anti-India protests after weekly congregational Friday prayers.