SRINAGAR, India (AP) – Hundreds of government forces are patrolling the streets of Indian held Kashmir s main city to stop a rally by people to mark the anniversaries of the assassinations of two Kashmiri leaders.
No one has been convicted of the killings, but they were believed to have been assassinated by militants for softening their stance on demands for Kashmir s independence or its merger with Pakistan.
Shops, schools and businesses closed and public transport stayed off the roads Thursday in Srinagar in response to ageneral strike called by the Kashmiris.
Authorities put Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is scheduled to lead the rally later Thursday, under house arrest.
His father, Mirwaiz Mohammed Farooq, Kashmir s chief cleric, was killed by assailants 25 years ago, and Abdul Gani Lone, another separatist leader, was gunned down in 2002.
