Indian authorities imposed an indefinite curfew in Kashmir on Sunday ahead of a pro-independence rally by separatists, the latest in a string of anti-India protests in the disputed Himalayan region. Police using loudspeakers mounted on vehicles told people to remain indoors as thousands of police and soldiers patrolled the region's empty streets to enforce the curfew. Over the past two months Kashmir has seen some of the biggest anti-India demonstrations since a separatist revolt against New Delhi's rule broke out in the region in 1989. About 40 protesters have been killed by security forces and more than 1,000 injured. The Jammu-Kashmir Coordination Committee, a new alliance of Muslim separatists and representatives of businesses and lawyers, plans a huge rally on Monday in Lal Chowk (Red Square) in the heart of Srinagar. "Please cooperate with authorities," Kashmir's senior official, Anil Goswami, appealed to strife-weary Kashmiris on state-owned Doordarshan television. "If you violate curfew security forces will respond." The government has announced a ban on public meetings of five or more people for one month to thwart any protest rally. But separatists said they would defy ban and go ahead with a rally on Monday. "Lal Chowk rally should be symbolic and every individual should try to join to convey to the world Kashmiris' resolve for the right to self-determination," hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said in a statement. Hundreds of policemen and paramilitary soldiers dressed in battle gear have been deployed around the Lal Chowk, with all entry points blocked by barbed wire to prevent the entry of separatists. Police said they have detained Yasin Malik, another senior separatist leader, who has led a series of anti-India demonstrations in the past two months. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of region's main separatist alliance, the All Parties Hurriyat (freedom) Conference, was also placed under house arrest, police said. The recent protests were sparked by a decision to grant land for shelters for Hindu pilgrims travelling to mostly-Muslim Kashmir, one of the world's most-militarised zones. Violence involving Indian troops and separatist guerrillas has declined significantly since India and Pakistan, which both claim the region, began a slow-moving peace process in 2004. But people are still killed in shootouts and occasional explosions. Earlier on Saturday night security forces in south Kashmir shot dead a senior member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group India blames for deadly attacks in Kashmir and elsewhere in the country. Police said Abu Uabiad, was one of the most wanted top commanders of Lashkar-e-Taiba. - Reuters __
