Massive Kashmiri Rally in Indian Administered Kashmir

According to the BBC, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have taken part in a massive protest rally in Indian-controlled Kashmir's main city, Srinagar.

The rally ended with call for a three day hartal or strike, beginning Saturday, in the famed Vale of Kashmir, for 60 years a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. This is the fourth such protest in the Muslim-dominated valley in recent weeks.

The BBC says that anti-Indian sentiment has grown following a dispute over a land grant to the Amarnath Hindu shrine.

After violent protests by Muslims in the valley, the order was rescinded leading to equally violent protests in the Hindu-dominated Jammu region of the disputed territory, and a blockade of the Vale by the Hindus of Jammu.

Friday's protests come after three days of relative calm in the valley which allowed residents to stock up on supplies that had been interrupted by the Hindu blockade.

Throughout Friday morning, hundreds of vehicles and thousands of people on foot marched towards the Eidgah prayer ground in the old city area of Srinagar.

Schools, businesses and shops were shut across the region and a large number of troops were deployed in the city. Masses of people - including women - were lined up by the road-side cheering them on, says the BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar. In many places, the marchers were offered fruit juices and women could be seen praying for their success.

These recurring protests and violence (21 Kashmiris were killed last week) point strongly to the need of a lasting solution to the India-Pakistan dispute over the territory, through peaceful negotiations, that would be acceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, India and Pakistan.