Kashmiris staged a general strike here on Saturday to protest a visit by India's president to the revolt-hit region. Businesses closed and schools and colleges declared the day a holiday in line with the strike call by Hurriyat Conference.
The strike to protest the visit by President Pratibha Patil was also backed by the powerful Islamic rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin, which is fighting New Delhi's rule in India's only Muslim-majority state. Traffic was also thin here, the urban hub of the secessionist drive in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Indian soldiers backed by police declared several areas of the city "out of bounds" for civilians to ensure Patil's security during her visit. Patil, elected India's first woman president last year, arrived here on Friday on a four-day official trip to the region, which borders Pakistan.
On Friday she warned that India would retaliate "resolutely and firmly" against any violations of the heavily militarised border. "I'm confident that any violation of our borders will be dealt with resolutely and firmly," Patil said in a speech to soldiers at a camp in Baramulla town, 55-km north of occupied Srinagar.
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