The region has been on edge since the February 14 attack on an Indian convoy which killed 40 soldiers and was claimed by Pakistain-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
India has accused Pakistain of supporting the attack -- a claim rejected by the Islamabad government -- and there have been widespread calls for nationalist leader Modi to order a reprisal strike.
About 10,000 paramilitaries started arriving in Kashmire on Saturday, a day after India ordered the reinforcements.
Modi told a rally in Rajasthan state that the country was "angry" about the attack in the Pulwama district of Indian-held Kashmire.
"After the Pulwama attack, you must have seen how Pakistain is being brought to account one step at a time. They are in a state of panic because of our government's decisions," Modi said, speaking in Hindi.
"We will not sit quietly after taking this pain. We know how to crush terrorism," he added. "We have given full freedom to the military."
Among those taken into custody in the crackdown in Kashmire were senior figures in Jamaat-e-Islami
...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
, the region's biggest religious organization, and the Hurriyat Conference, a coalition of local political parties.
Jamaat and Hurriyat Conference both strongly support Moslem Kashmire's right to choose whether it wants to be part of India or Pakistain, which have been fighting over the region since independence in 1947.
"Police and other agencies launched a mass arrest drive and raided many houses in the valley with dozens of... central and district-level leaders locked away
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
," Jamaat said in a statement, adding that those detained included central leader Abdul Hamid Fayaz.
'ARBITRARY MOVE'
Police linked the arrests to security preparations for upcoming elections in India and a Supreme Court hearing on Monday on a challenge to a constitutional provision that gives Kashmiris special rights to property and jobs in the territory.
But the arrests drew widespread criticism from Kashmire politicians.
"Fail to understand such an arbitrary move which will only precipitate matters," Mehbooba Mufti, a pro-India former chief minister said on Twitter. "You can imprison a person but not his ideas."
"Such illegal and coercive measures against Kashmiris are futile and will not change realities on ground," wrote Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, an influential separatist leader, on Twitter.
Businesses across Kashmire were shut on Saturday, some in protest at the arrests and with others fearing conflict between India and Pakistain.
Many in Kashmire are wary of a military strike over the suicide bomb and residents in several areas reported unusual military air activity on Friday night.
Authorities did not comment on the reported fighter aircraft and helicopters flying over the territory.
Pakistain's Prime Minister Imran Khan
... aka
Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer...
has vowed retaliation if his country is attacked. In a letter to the UN Security Council released Saturday, Pak Foreign Minister Shah
Mehmood WormtongueQureshi accused India of "warmongering".
More than 100 separatists detained in Kashmir raids in pre-election crackdown
[AlAhram] More than 100 separatists in Kashmire were detained in overnight raids, police officials said on Saturday, as part of a crackdown on groups that might cause trouble ahead of nationwide elections set to be held by May.
The overnight arrests in the state included those of many senior members of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), an Islamic organization that wants Kashmire to be independent from India.
The arrests led to violent scenes in parts of Kashmire, with stone-throwing protestors met by police firing tear gas.
JeI’s leader, Dr Abdul Hamid Fayaz and Yasin Malik
...
chairman of one of the two factions of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. JKLF is a Kashmiri nationalist organization founded in Birmingham, UK in 1977. Branches weren't actually established in Kashmir for another ten years. It has the usual demands for separation of J&K from secular India so it can become an independent Islamic rathole. It seems to have no interest in Pak Kashmir breaking away to join it. In 1994 Malik renounced violence after he was released from jail and from that point he and his organization pursued peaceful means to impose their will on the region..., the head of Jammu Kashmire Liberation Front (JKLF) that wants independence from both India and Pakistain, were among those detained.
A front man for India’s home ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the arrests or troop deployments.
Next week India’s Supreme Court is also expected to hear a petition attempting to remove an article in the country’s constitution that prevents non-residents from moving to Jammu and Kashmire, the Indian state that contains Moslem-majority Kashmire. If passed it could further escalate tensions in the region.