Cartoon protest closes Kashmir

The Copenhagen Post - 09.12.2005: "Kashmiri businesses were closed on Thursday in protest against a Danish newspaper, which printed twelve caricatures of Muslim prophet Mohammed in September

Thousands of shops and businesses were closed down on Thursday in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir in protest against twelve caricatures of the Muslim prophet Mohammed printed in daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September.

Jyllands-Posten reported that newspapers in the area said businesses in entire neighbourhoods in the capital of Jammu and the province of Srinagar had been closed down.

'In four to six of the biggest cities in the province shops were closed to express anger over the caricatures of the holy prophet. In some places there were clashes, and people started throwing rocks. Most Muslims feel deeply affronted,' said Abdur Rasheed, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Kashmir Observer.

In the city of Sopore, shops were closed in protest.

'We are talking about hundreds of thousands of shops in six of the seven biggest cities. In large areas, 98-99 percent of the shops were closed. People are not allowed on the streets because of the strained situation in the region, so instead they close their shops to demonstrate against the Danish newspaper,' said Meraj Wani from the newspaper Greater Kashmir."