Strike in Kashmir over "plight of detainees"

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - Shops and most schools were closed in Kashmir's main city on Saturday after separatists called a strike to protest what they called inhumane treatment of Kashmiris in Indian jails.

Streets in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, were almost deserted during the strike called by hard line separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, witnesses said.

At least four people were injured when police fired tear gas to disperse dozens of stone throwing protesters in downtown Srinagar, witnesses said.

The shutdown was supported by the United Jihad Council, a Pakistan-based alliance of Kashmiri militant groups and a lawyers association.

"Kashmiri youth held in jails within and outside the state were being ill-treated, because of which the lives of scores of them were in danger," Geelani said in a statement. "We strongly protest against inhuman treatment of detainees."

Schools and colleges are usually open on Saturdays.

Separatist say thousands of Kashmiris are languishing in jails across India, but authorities, who deny allegations of inhuman treatment of detainees, put the figure at just over 500.

Indian security forces have been struggling to quell an almost 20-year-long revolt in Kashmir where officials say more than 43,000 people have been killed. Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing.

Overall violence levels remain low compared with previous years after India and Pakistan, which claim Kashmir in full but rule it in parts, began a peace process in 2004.

Suspected separatist militants killed two policemen by slitting their throats in Kupwara area of north Kashmir, police said on Saturday. They said the men had been kidnapped by militants on Thursday.