India deploys extra troops to halt Kashmir protests

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Indian authorities deployed thousands of troops across Kashmir on Monday to prevent demonstrations planned to mark the 61st anniversary of New Delhi's rule over the region.

In Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, troops patrolled deserted streets, erected barricades and blocked roads leading to the offices of U.N. Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

UNMOGIP, one of the oldest U.N. missions, monitors a 1949 cease-fire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference alliance, was placed under house arrest to prevent him from leading a march to the U.N. office.

"October 27 is the blackest day in the history of Kashmir," Farooq said referring to the day in 1947 when Indian troops arrived to take control of the region, just over two months after India and Pakistan won independence from Britain.

On October 26, 1947, the Hindu ruler of Kashmir said his Muslim-majority kingdom would accede to India and not join newly created Islamic Pakistan.

Kashmir has since been claimed by both India and Pakistan, and roiled with violence, involving Indian troops and Muslim militants.

So far 43,000 people have been killed, officials say, but human rights groups put the toll at 60,000.

On Monday, shops, businesses and schools remained closed in much of Kashmir.