SRINAGAR: Shops and schools in Indian-controlled Kashmir were closed Saturday to protest the assassination of a moderate Muslim religious leader in the disputed Himalayan region. Police said they believe Moulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah was killed by a remote-controlled bomb attached to a parked bicycle near a mosque in the territory's main city of Srinagar on Friday. An alliance of separatist political and religious groups called for a public strike Saturday, while police and paramilitary troops set up road blocks and patrolled Srinagar's near-deserted streets, anticipating unrest. “His death has broken our back. I will not rest till I unveil his killers,” said Mohammed Yasin Malik, chairman of the pro-independence Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front. Thousands chanted pro-independence slogans against Indian rule at Shah's funeral Friday night.
