August 24, 2008	Sunday	Sha'aban 21, 1429

SRINAGAR, Aug 23: A massive pro-independence strike brought occupied Kashmir to a halt on Saturday, a day after a huge separatist rally in the revolt-hit region where 15 people were killed in a gunbattle.

The strike was the latest in a string of shutdowns and demonstrations called by separatists in the scenic Muslim-majority Himalayan state.

“The strike is part of continuing protests against India’s rule in Kashmir,” said leading separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is chief priest at the valley’s main mosque.

“It is also to demand our right to self-determination through a referendum,” he said in Srinagar, where a revolt has raged against New Delhi’s rule since 1989.

In Srinagar, shops, schools, banks and businesses remained closed for a second day running. There were similar shutdowns in other towns in the Kashmir valley.

The strike is set to continue until Monday, when Kashmiris plan to hold a protest sit-in at Lal Chowk, the heart of Srinagar.

Scattered demonstrations continued on Saturday across the city, with scores of protesters riding motorbikes and carrying green flags parading the eerily empty streets.

The trouble was triggered by a state government plan announced in June to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust in the occupied Kashmir valley. The decision was later reversed, angering Hindus.

Since June, at least 31 Muslims and three Hindus have died in police firing on protesters and other violence in the Kashmir valley and Jammu.

—AFP