July 01, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 26, 1429

SRINAGAR, June 30: Shops, schools and offices in occupied Kashmir remained shut for the eighth day on Monday as protesters demanded formal revocation of an order to hand over land to a Hindu trust.

The protests continued despite Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad declaring on Sunday that his cabinet would revoke the plan to allow the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board to build accommodation for pilgrims.

“We will not call off these protests until we see a written order from the government that the land transfer order has been revoked,” said APHC leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as a crippling strike closed down shops, schools and businesses and kept most traffic off the streets of Srinagar.

In downtown Srinagar and other towns, thousands of angry protesters led by APHC leader Syed Ali Geelani marched through streets littered with bricks and stones and shouted “We want freedom” and “Indians leave Kashmir”.—AFP