October 25, 2008	Saturday	Shawwal 25, 1429

SRINAGAR, Oct 24: Shops, businesses and schools were closed in much of occupied Kashmir on Friday due to a strike by Kashmiri leaders to press for the implementation of a UN resolution requesting a referendum over the disputed region.

The past two months have witnessed some of the biggest anti-India protests in Kashmir since a revolt against New Delhi’s rule broke out nearly 20 years ago.

The strike also closed banks and most of the government offices in major towns in the Kashmir valley, where roads were deserted except for security personnel.

Police in Srinagar used tear gas and batons to quell scores of protests.

The strike coincided with the United Nations Day. In 1948, the United Nations adopted a resolution calling for a referendum to determine if the Kashmiris wanted to join Pakistan or India.

“We will never bow to the suppression and occupation of Indian rule, and I think today we should protest and remind the United Nations of its promise,” said Abdul Hamid, a shopkeeper in Srinagar.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, was placed under house arrest to stop him from leading a protest, police said. On Thursday a senior leader, Yasin Malik, was arrested and sent to jail for leading a rally urging people to boycott forthcoming elections.

There had been pressure to suspend the state elections, due to start on Nov 17, after at least 42 people were killed by security forces and more than 1,000 wounded in over two-months of anti-India protests.—Reuters