Srinagar, Sunday 05 Oct 2008: Authorities in Kashmir on Sunday imposed a strict indefinite curfew, a day ahead of a major rally planned by pro-freedom parties.

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.

Kashmir Coordination Committee, spearheading the current uprising, had called for a high-profile sit-in on Monday in Lal Chowk, or Red Square, in the historic centre of Srinagar.

The Jammu and Kashmir government yesterday night said it would impose curfew to thwart a march by separatists to Lal Chowk here on Monday.

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.

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.