SRINAGAR, Dec 6: Authorities in occupied Kashmir blocked an anti-India leader from leading a protest in Srinagar on Saturday by placing him under house arrest.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of a group of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, was planning a protest march against the denial of permission to hold a rally in Srinagar.

A police official said authorities did not allow Mr Geelani to hold a rally as it fell on the sensitive anniversary of the 1992 demolition of the Babri mosque.

Police also detained Javed Mir, vice chairman of the moderate Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, to prevent him from taking out a procession to denounce the destruction of the Ayodhya mosque. Ali Geelani’s faction, backed by most of the militant groups fighting Indian rule, opposes talks with New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

Violence in the held state has continued unabated despite the truce between Pakistan and India along the LoC.—Reuters/AFP