Kashmir leader held on holy book burning protest

Separatist violence plagues Jammu and Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India -- A senior Kashmiri separatist leader has been detained by Indian police for leading a protest against the burning of Muslim holy books by Hindu hardliners.

Police and witnesses said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the former chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, was arrested and detained along with six supporters in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier this month, about 200 right-wing Hindus burned copies of the Muslim Korans and tore up posters of Islamic shrines in New Delhi.

The burning of the Muslim holy book is a form of protest and retaliation against the destruction of ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan by the Taleban, which inlcudes two centuries-old massive Buddhas in Bamiyan province.

The protest closed shops and businesses in Srinagar and other major towns of the strife-torn Himalayan Valley, police and witnesses said.

They added that most streets in the summer capital were also deserted except for security patrols, and that the strike also closed schools and colleges in the area.

Police also detained a leader of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Javid Ahmad Mir, on Friday when he tried to lead a similar protest in Srinagar, witnesses said.

Separatist violence

Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority state in India, with 70 percent of the 12 million people living there being Muslims. The rest include Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists who are live mostly in the south and around the city of Jammu.

Separatist violence is rampant in the restive Himalayan state as nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir, an area on the northern borders of India and Pakistan.

The area has been the key to the dispute between India and Pakistan since their independence from the British in 1947 as each country claims Kashmir as a part of its territory.

As a result of a rebellion in 1947 and the subsequent wars between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, the area is separated by a Line of Control.

Since the conflict erupted in Kashmir, the Kashmiri people themselves have taken up arms against the Indian occupation. India is now deploying more than 700,000 troops in the valley to crush the Freedom Movement.

Authorities placed more than 30,000 people to have been killed in nearly 11 years of separatist violence in the area.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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