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Thousands of protesters march in Indian Kashmir

Tens of thousands of Muslims marched to UN offices in the Indian Kashmir on Monday to demand freedom from India.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 09:26 August 18, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Kashmiri Muslims shout pro-freedom slogans during a rally in Srinagar on Monday.
  • Image Credit: EPA

Srinagar: Tens of thousands of Muslims marched to UN offices in the Indian Kashmir on Monday to demand freedom from India.

Protesters waving green and black flags made their way across the Himalayan region to Srinagar for the protest as thousands of riot police guarded the streets. No violence was reported.

Separatists were planning to submit a memorandum the offices of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan.

"Call upon India to end its forcible occupation of Jammu and Kashmir and desist from use of brute force against the people of Jammu and Kashmir," the memorandum states.

A row over land for Hindu pilgrims visiting a shrine in Kashmir has snowballed into full scale anti-India protests, uniting separatists and reviving calls for Kashmiri independence.

The crisis began after the state government promised to give forest land to a trust that runs Amarnath, a cave shrine visited by Hindu pilgrims. Many Muslims were enraged.

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