SRINAGAR, India, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A strike called by separatist groups to mark the 59th anniversary of the arrival of Indian troops in Kashmir shut down large parts of the disputed region's main city, Srinagar, on Friday. After the 1947 partition of the subcontinent by British colonial rulers into Hindu India and Islamic Pakistan, the Hindu ruler of the Muslim region of Kashmir -- facing the threat of an invasion by Pakistani tribesmen -- signed an instrument of accession with India in return for military aid. As part of this deal, Indian troops landed in Kashmir on Oct. 27, 1947, to push the Pakistani tribesmen back."On this day, Indian troops landed ... to subjugate and occupy Jammu and Kashmir," the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference said in a statement, calling on people of the region to mark Friday as a "Day of Mourning". Most shops, businesses and schools in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Himalayan state, were closed and traffic on its main streets was thin. The strike was called separately by the Hurriyat, an umbrella alliance of moderate political separatists, and Hizbul Mujahideen, a frontline militant group. The Indian army marks the event as "Martyrs' Day" and senior army officers laid wreaths at a memorial for soldiers at the heavily guarded military headquarters in Srinagar. Kashmir has been a major bone of contention between India and Pakistan and the cause of two of their three wars. The separatist revolt which erupted in 1989 has killed more than 45,000 people so far.
