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Curfew imposed in Indian Kashmir ahead of rally

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-05 14:15

SRINAGAR, India -- Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew in Indian Kashmir early Sunday ahead of a pro-independence rally called by separatists as thousands of government forces patrolled the Himalayan region's main city.

Kashmiri Muslims shout pro-freedom slogans on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr in Srinagar October 1, 2008. [Agencies]

Police drove through neighborhoods in the disputed region before dawn to announce the curfew and warn residents to stay indoors. Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear patrolled the deserted streets of Srinagar, the region's largest city, and Kashmir's top official, Anil Goswami, said security forces would take action against anyone who violated curfew.

In recent months, the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir has seen some of the largest protests against Indian rule in two decades. At least 45 people have died in the unrest, most of them killed when soldiers opened fire on Muslim protesters.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Indian-administered Kashmir, where most people favor independence from mainly Hindu India, or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the region. Both the neighboring countries claim the region in its entirety.

Demonstrations subsided during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ended September 30, but separatist leaders sought to rekindle them with a huge rally Monday in the heart of Srinagar.

In an attempt to defuse the protests, police on Saturday arrested Mohammed Yasin Malik, a key separatist leader, said senior police official B. Srinivas. Another top separatist leader, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, was put under house arrest, Srinivas said.

Before he was arrested, Malik called the protests "a people's revolution" and vowed to defy the curfew.

"Any attempt to break these peaceful protests will have disastrous consequences," he said.

Soldiers enforced the curfew in other parts of Kashmir on Sunday.

Separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule, leaving an estimated 68,000 people, most of them civilians, dead.