The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Srinagar

A one-day strike called by Muslim separatists against New Delhi's rule brought Indian Kashmir to a standstill on Saturday, the latest protest to hit the region.

The strike, which closed shops, schools, banks and offices in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, was one of a string of shutdowns and demonstrations called by separatists in the Muslim-majority Himalayan territory.

"The strike is to protest against India's rule in Kashmir," the region's leading moderate separatist politician Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told AFP from his family compound in Srinagar where he was placed under house arrest on Friday.

There were similar shutdowns in other towns of the Kashmir valley, according to police and residents.

Farooq, who is also the region's chief Muslim cleric, was put under house arrest along with two other top separatist leaders, Syed Ali Geelani and Yasin Malik, as security forces struggled to contain anti-India protests.

In the past few months, the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley has witnessed the biggest separatist demonstrations since the revolt against New Delhi's rule erupted in 1989.

The flare-up in unrest prompted by a row about land near a Hindu shrine high in the Himalayas has triggered a heavy crackdown by Indian security forces.

"The strike is also to protest the crackdown on pro-freedom demonstrations," said Farooq.

Last week, authorities lifted a nine-day curfew-the longest to be imposed since the anti-India militancy was at its peak in the early 1990s-to coincide with the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Since June, at least 39 Muslims and three Hindus have died in police shootings in the Kashmir valley and the mainly Hindu area of Jammu, further to the south, as authorities struggled to quell the prote

Another report adds: Thousands of Muslims staged sit-in protests in parts of Kashmir on Friday, resuming demonstrations against New Delhi's rule in the disputed Himalayan region after a three-day break, witnesses said.

Last month at least 35 protesters in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley were killed by government forces in some of the largest pro-independence rallies since a revolt against New Delhi's rule broke out in the region in 1989.

More than 1,000 people have been injured in the protests, which were halted for three days to allow people to stock rations and prepare for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"We want freedom," the protesters shouted after weekly Friday prayers. Earlier on Friday, police placed separatist leaders under house arrest to stop them from leading fresh protests.

Those under house arrest included Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of the separatist alliance All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, and hardline leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Yasin Malik, another popular separatist leader and chief of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, has been under house arrest since Monday.

On Thursday, hundreds of Kashmiri militants rallied on the Pakistani side of the disputed region, vowing a Muslim holy war to free their homeland from Indian rule.

The protests which began last month were sparked by a decision to grant land to build shelters for Hindus making an annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan region.

Muslims were enraged, forcing the government to backtrack. Hindus in turn protested, blocking the highway to the Kashmir Valley. They relented after the state government offered to allow temporary shelters to be built during the annual pilgrimage. Muslim separatists have rejected the deal.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir in nearly 20 years of violence involving Indian troops and separatist militants.