//Indian Kashmir separatist group calls for boycott over cartoon

Indian Kashmir separatist group calls for boycott over cartoon

Armed ConflictsFebruary 8, 2006
NEW DELHI – An Islamic separatist group in Indian Kashmir called Wednesday for a boycott of Danish and other European goods to protest against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). “Boycott the products” for publishing “cartoon images of our beloved Prophet Mohammed (PBUH),” the pro-independence group Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) said in statement. The Muslims say the newspaper cartoons, which have appeared in mainly European newspapers are blasphemous and deeply offensive. The boycott call came as Syed Ahmed Bukhari, fiery chief cleric of the Jama Masjid in New Delhi, India’s largest mosque, announced plans to protest against the cartoons after prayers Friday, the Muslim holy day.

“Muslims shall lodge their strong protest … against the publishing of contemptuous cartoons of the Prophet of Islam in Denmark and other nations,” the cleric said in a statement.Muslims make up some 13 percent of mainly Hindu India’s billion-plus population but so far there have been no major protests in the country over the cartoons unlike in many other Muslim countries.The Kashmir boycott appeal was sent to thousands of cellular phone subscribers across mainly Muslim Indian Kashmir where a separatist revolt has raged against New Delhi’s rule since 1989.
The message asked recipients to “prove your love for Rasoolullah” or “the Messenger of God” by obeying the boycott call. There was a general strike Monday in Indian Kashmir to protest against the cartoons but this is first of a clutch of separatist groups in the Himalayan region to call for a goods boycott.
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