SRINAGAR - A strike called by a pro-Pakistan separatist group to protest the Indian president's visit paralyzed life in India's portion of Kashmir on Saturday.
Separatist groups and armed militants are opposed to India's rule in Kashmir and demand its independence or merger with Pakistan, a mostly Muslim nation. Jammu-Kashmir is Hindu India's only Muslim majority state.
Most shops, businesses and schools were closed for the day Saturday amid the strike, supported by Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen, the main armed rebel group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.
President Pratibha Patil began a five-day visit to the region Friday by meeting soldiers posted close to India's highly militarized de facto frontier with Pakistan.
“We want to convey to the Indian president that Kashmiri people are against Indian occupation of Kashmir," said Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chief of the hard-line faction of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an umbrella group of political and religious outfits.
Soldiers tightened security by erecting checkpoints at street crossings, while police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled the area to prevent protests.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but both claim it in entirety. The rivals have fought two wars over control of the territory since they gained independence from Britain in 1947.
More than a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.
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