Indian students fast to save giant tree

INDIA: Students at Indian Kashmir's leading university have started a two-day hunger strike to protest the construction of a guesthouse which they say threatens a giant tree known as a chinar.

The students said the Mughal-built Naseem Bagh garden on the sprawling Kashmir University campus had historic significance.

"We won't allow construction of any building here," said Ishfaq Ahmed, one of nearly 100 students who joined the fast.

Ahmed noted that Mughal ruler Akbar planted 1,000 chinars in the garden, on the edges of the summer capital Srinagar, immediately after he conquered Kashmir in 1588.

Srinagar, Thursday, AFP