SRINAGAR, India, May 5 (Reuters) - Streets in Indian Kashmir's main city were deserted on Saturday after separatists called a strike to protest against alleged human rights violations by security forces, witnesses said. A senior hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said the shutdown was also a response to damage to a mosque. "We appeal to people to observe a complete strike on Saturday to protest human rights violations and damage to the mosque," he said in a statement. Witnesses said schools, shops and businesses stayed shut in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, where India has been struggling to quell a 17-year revolt. Indian forces are frequently accused of carrying out extra-judicial killings, torture and disappearences. But authorities deny any systematic violation of human rights in Kashmir, and say all reports are investigated and that they punish those found guilty. A two-centuries old mosque inside the historic Hari Parbat fort, which overlooks Srinagar, was found to be damaged when the fort was opened to visitors late last month for the first time in 17 years after Indian troops stationed there left. Last week, several people, including four news photographers, were hurt in Srinagar when police fired teargas at hundreds of Muslim demonstrators angered by the damage. Hari Parbat was built by Afghan rulers in 1808 and was taken over by Indian troops in 1989 when the revolt against New Delhi's rule began in the Muslim-majority state. Tens of thousands of people have been killed or have disappeared during the insurgency.
