(Updates with strike call, details) By Sheikh Mushtaq SRINAGAR, India, July 1 (Reuters) - India placed several Kashmiri separatist leaders under house arrest on Tuesday to stop them from protesting against a decision to transfer forest land to a Hindu shrine trust, a move that has sparked violence. In one of the biggest protests since a separatist revolt broke out in Kashmir in 1989, angry Muslims had shut down the region and at least four people were shot dead by police in demonstrations that started last week. They were protesting against a government decision to hand over nearly 100 acres (40 hectares) of forest to a Hindu shrine trust, a move they say is aimed at changing the demographics of mainly Hindu India's only Muslim-majority state. To defuse the situation, Kashmir authorities said the state cabinet had formally revoked the decision and Muslim protesters said they were withdrawing their strike. But the government's move to back down has angered Hindus in Jammu, another region in Kashmir where they are in a majority, shutting down the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir state for the second day. On Tuesday, India's main opposition, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called for a nationwide strike to protest against the decision. "The BJP has called a nationwide strike on July 3 to protest this monstrous act of revoking the allotted land to the shrine board for Amarnath pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir," Rajnath Singh, a leader said late on Tuesday. The Hindu trust helps organise an annual trek undertaken by thousands of pilgrims to a shrine deep inside the Himalayas. Police had earlier placed Muslim leaders under house arrest. "As a preventive measure, the leadership of Hurriyat has been placed under house arrest," Imtitaz Ahmad, a senior police officer, said, referring to an alliance of the main separatist groups. He said hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani managed to evade police. Those under house arrest included the chairman of Hurriyat, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief Mohammad Yasin Malik and another popular separatist leader, Shabir Shah. At least three people were injured when a policeman opened fire to disperse a crowd in Jammu, police said, adding the officer was later beaten up by protesters. Thousands of police and troops patrolled the deserted streets in the strife-torn region to quell protests. (Additional reporting by Ashok Pahalwan; Editing by Bappa Majumdar) (For the latest Reuters news on India see: http://in.reuters.com, for blogs see http://blogs.reuters.com/in)
Kashmiri people hold torches to celebrate the revocation of a government order to transfer land to a Hindu shrine trust in Srinagar July 1, 2008. India placed several top Kashmiri separatist ...
