A Kashmiri woman crosses a barricade set up by security forces in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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SRINAGAR, India (AP) - 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.
With multiple ailments and under house arrest for years, Geelani was quietly buried by Indian authorities without any family members present after police snatched his body early Thursday, his son, Naseem Geelani, said.
Police in a statement denied Geelani's forcible burial and called it 'œbaseless rumors'ť by 'œsome vested interests.'ť
Pakistan, India's archrival, which administers a part of Himalayan Kashmir, observed a day of mourning on Thursday and condemned Geelani's non-public burial.
Geelani spearheaded Kashmir's movement for the right to self-determination and was a staunch proponent of merging Kashmir with Pakistan. For many in Kashmir and beyond, he was an enduring icon of defiance against India. Successive Indian governments often dubbed him a hard-line politician.
Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, which both claim the region in full but rule only parts.
Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
India describes the armed rebellion as Islamabad's proxy war and state-sponsored terrorism. Most Muslim Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle and support the rebel goal that the territory be united, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
The region is one of the most heavily militarized in the world. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the raging conflict.
Tensions flared in the region in 2019 after New Delhi stripped Kashmir's semi-autonomy, scrapped its statehood and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. Authorities have since brought a slew of new laws, which many critics and Kashmiris liken to the beginning of settler colonialism.
An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard at a temporary checkpoint in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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A paramilitary soldier stands guard near a barbwire setup as road blockade at a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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A Kashmiri woman covers her face with a scarf as she walks past paramilitary soldiers standing guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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A Kashmiri girl walks past a barbwire road blockade in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
The Associated Press
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
The Associated Press
An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
The Associated Press
A paramilitary soldier signals to a Kashmiri man to stop at a temporary checkpoint in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
The Associated Press
A paramilitary soldier checks a vehicle at a temporary checkpoint in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard in a closed market area in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
The Associated Press
CORRECTS AGE - FILE - In this Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010, file photo, Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani waves to the media before his arrest in Srinagar, India. Geelani, an icon of disputed Kashmir's resistance against Indian rule and a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region's defiance against New Delhi, died late Wednesday, Sept, 1, 2021. He was 91. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)
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CORRECTS AGE - Syed Ali Shah Geelani speaks to the media as he walks outside his house to participate in a march towards the United Nations Military Observer Group office in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, July 29, 2016. Geelani, a top separatist leader and one of the severest critics of Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, died late Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. He was 91. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
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