[Reader-list] Held Kashmir shuts down on Martyrs Day

[Aditya Raj Baul]

Held Kashmir shuts down on Martyrs Day

Tuesday  July  13 , 2010  3:37:51 PM
http://www.thearynews.com/english/newsdetail.asp?nid=51950

SRINAGAR: Shops and businesses in held Kashmir closed Tuesday as
pro-freedom leaders continued a strike and organized protests on an
annual holiday marking the execution of 21 Kashmiri Muslims to quell
an uprising in 1931.

Thousands of government forces erected more checkpoints and laid razor
wire on roads in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, and were
enforcing curfew-like restrictions to prevent rallies. Restrictions
also were enforced in other Kashmiri towns as shops, businesses and
public transportation shut down for the third day of a
separatist-called strike.

July 13 is observed as "Martyrs' Day" in Kashmir, Kashmiris
commemorate the day when the region's Hindu king ordered 21 Kashmiri
Muslims executed to put down an uprising. The state government usually
observes a holiday.

"This is the day to reiterate our commitment to the cause of freedom,
dignity and independence," said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a key separatist
leader.

Kashmir has been rocked by protests and strikes since nearly a month.
At least 15 people have died mostly in shootings blamed on police and
paramilitary soldiers.

A rigid curfew was imposed last week but lifted Sunday in most of
Kashmir. Restrictions continued in Srinagar and two southern towns
following weekend clashes.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where separatist
politicians and armed militants reject Indian sovereignty and want to
carve out a separate homeland or merge the region with Pakistan.