Strike shuts Muslim Kashmir on India's Independence Day

SRINAGAR, India  (AFP) - A separatist-led strike paralysed life in revolt-hit Kashmir on India's Independence Day on Wednesday, police said, as troops deployed against rebel attacks.

The strike, sponsored by both hardline and moderate factions of the state's separatist alliance, cleared the streets of the summer capital Srinagar and shut all shops and businesses.

The picture was the same in other Muslim-dominated towns of Kashmir, but life was normal in Jammu, the Hindu-majority winter capital, residents told AFP.
Kashmiri militants and separatists observe India's national celebration as a "black day". Britian's August 1947 withdrawal from the sub-continent led to the partition of India, the birth of Pakistan and the division of Kashmir between them.

Separatists favour Kashmir's merger with Pakistan or its independence.
"The strike is to convey to the world that Kashmiris want the right to self-determination," hardline separatists Syed Ali Geelani told AFP.
Indian troops patrolled the empty streets of Srinagar, frisking occasional passers-by.

"We are on high state of alert," senior police officer Farooq Ahmed said, as he reviewed security Wednesday hours before chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad launched a programme of celebration at Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium.

The high-security venue has been sealed off and troops deployed in strength.
Islamic militants opposing New Delhi's rule in Indian Kashmir routinely step up attacks on important Indian holidays.

Violence has sharply fallen in Kashmir in recent years amid moves by nuclear armed India and Pakistan to ease tensions over the Himalayan territory which has been the trigger of two of three wars between them.

Police said Indian troops late Tuesday shot dead two militants in northern Bandipora town, where suspected militants exploded a grenade on Monday outside a venue for the town's Independence Day party, killing three and wounding 19.

Police also defused a bomb found attached to an Indian flag in southern Banihal town.