Curfew, arrests ahead of Indian Kashmir rally

Posted 08 25 2008 7:09PM

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Indian security forces arrested three senior Muslim leaders in Kashmir and enforced a strict curfew on Monday to prevent separatists from holding a pro-independence rally.

Eight people were hurt in two incidents north of the state summer capital Srinagar when troops opened fire to disperse anti-India protesters who defied the curfew, police and doctors said.

Across the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, police used batons and teargas to disperse angry crowds.

Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who head hardline and moderate factions of the region's separatist alliance, were arrested after overnight raids on their homes in Srinagar, police said.

The two have been leading a series of large demonstrations over the past two weeks, reviving calls for independence from Indian rule.

They planned to hold a rally Monday in Srinagar's Red Square, where in 1948 India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised Kashmiris the right to self-determination through a referendum -- a pledge that has not been upheld.

"The two have been arrested to prevent today's rally," a police officer who asked not to be named told AFP.

State-owned media said they were being held for "instigating crowds and causing law and order problems."

A third senior separatist, Yasin Malik, was detained as he headed to Red Square on Monday morning, witnesses said.

The curfew was in force in Srinagar and other Muslim-majority towns for a second straight day on Monday.

Policemen used loudspeakers to urge residents to stay indoors after some separatists said they would try to reach Red Square.

Thousands of troops have been deployed around the venue, with all entry points blocked by fencing and barbed wire.

"It is very tense out here. There are only policemen visible on the streets," said Joginder Singh, a Red Square resident.

On Sunday evening a Muslim man was shot dead by police after he defied the curfew. Thousands of people attended his funeral chanting "We want freedom" and "We will spill blood for blood."

Some 50 people were hurt in police action on Sunday when they ignored the curfew and held various anti-India demonstrations.

Residents in several parts of Srinagar attended noisy rallies overnight, carrying burning torches through the streets.

"We have called in the army to assist the police in enforcing curfew," police Inspector General S.M. Sahai told reporters in Srinagar.

Residents said shops and offices were closed and the streets were empty.

"We are not even being allowed to peep out through windows," said Fayaz Ahmed, 42, in central Srinagar.

The curfew was imposed to "discourage separatist rallies during which residents have openly paraded green Islamic flags and chanted pro-militant and anti-India slogans," a police source told AFP.

He added the protests were an embarrassment to the national government in New Delhi.

The recent troubles have been triggered by a state government plan announced in June to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust in the Kashmir valley. The decision was later reversed after massive Muslim protests, angering Hindus.

Since June, at least 32 Muslims and three Hindus have died from police shooting on protesters in the Kashmir valley and the mainly Hindu area of Jammu.