November 07, 2008	Friday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1429

SRINAGAR, Nov 6: Thousands of troops were deployed in occupied Kashmir on Thursday to prevent a protest rally against New Delhi’s rule in the Muslim-majority region.

“Heavy deployment has been made in Srinagar and other major towns of the valley to foil the separatist rally,” a police official told AFP.

Protesters had planned to march to an important mosque in occupied Srinagar, but awoke to tight security with heavily-armed police manning street corners and checking vehicles.

“The Indian police are not allowing anyone out of their homes,” said local resident Javid Ahmad, who lives near the mosque.

The police official said no curfew was in place but restrictions on movement had been imposed to “maintain law and order”. Moderate leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, who was to lead the rally, criticised the authorities for crushing the “voice of the people”.

“I have been placed under house arrest since yesterday,” Farooq, Kashmir’s chief cleric, told AFP from his residence on the outskirts of the city.

In the past few months, Kashmir has witnessed the biggest pro-independence demonstrations since an insurgency erupted in 1989. The protests have been met with a tough crackdown by Indian security forces.—AFP