The lawmakers were part of a group of 40 politicians from all major Indian parties visiting the region to find ways to address long-standing demands for self-rule or a merger with Pakistan.
The crowd met the politicians at the government-run hospital in Srinagar with chants of “Go India, go back” and “We want freedom” before police used batons to clear the area. Police detained at least two protesters, according to a police officer. The lawmakers were able to visit two patients before leaving.
Fearing more protests, authorities canceled the delegation’s visit to two other hospitals, the officer said.
Kashmir has been rocked by widespread protests since June, with at least 106 people killed in clashes with security forces — mostly teenage boys and young men. Human rights group Amnesty International has urged Indian authorities to investigate the killings and order government forces to stop the use of lethal force against demonstrators.
Kashmiri separatist leaders met some of the visiting lawmakers on Monday, but they dismissed the two-day visit as grandstanding by the Indian government.
A group of local residents assembled by local politicians met Home Minister P. Chidambaram and some lawmakers in the town of Tangmarg, the scene of a massive protest last week in which security forces shot and killed at least six people.
A young man asked Chidambaram why security forces were “using brutal force against unarmed protesters if they considered the region to be part of India.” Chidambaram didn’t answer the question.
Despite a strong military presence in the area and an ongoing curfew, a group of protesters gathered on a highway outside the town and held up posters with anti-India slogans.
Other lawmakers were able to meet with local Kashmiris during a visit to a revered shrine in the region.
“We plainly told them to stop atrocities in Kashmir and we want freedom from India,” said Ghulam Rasool, a local who spoke with the delegation.
On Monday, five members of the delegation met with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, all key separatist leaders, in the presence of journalists.
Geelani said talks with India could only be held if it accepts that Kashmir is an international dispute, releases all political prisoners and starts the withdrawal of hundreds of thousands of troops from the region.
The lawmakers said they would formally convey Geelani’s proposal to the federal government.
Farooq and Malik proposed setting up committees comprising leaders from both India and Pakistan as a way forward in resolving the decades-old Kashmir dispute. Kashmir is divided between the neighboring countries and is claimed by both.
India’s did not immediately respond to the proposal.
Authorities relaxed a round-the-clock curfew for four hours in parts of Srinagar on Tuesday.
Thousands of people rushed to neighborhood shops to stock up on food and other items. However, stores in the main business districts remained closed and there was no public transport.
