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| Massive protests rock held Kashmir |
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
HELD SRINAGAR: Thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of held Kashmir on Friday, protesting the transfer of state land to a Hindu shrine in what they charge is a ploy to build Hindu settlements and change the demographic balance in the valley.
Police used live ammunition, tear gas and bamboo batons in an attempt to quell some of the largest protests against the Indian rule since the outbreak of militancy in the Himalayan region nearly two decades ago. Three people have been killed and hundreds wounded over the last five days of demonstrations.
The protests were sparked by the recent transfer of 99 acres (40 hectares) of land by the state government to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, a trust running a Hindu shrine, to construct facilities for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who flock there every year.
“The government has transferred land in order to change the demography of this place,” said Mian Qayyum, a prominent lawyer and head of a recently formed Action Committee Against Land Transfer.
“India has transformed this pilgrimage into an operation and is trying to imitate the Israeli operation of settlements in the occupied land of Palestine,” said Syed Ali Shah Gilani, who has been leading the protests.
Indian officials dismiss the allegations, noting that India has never tried to encourage Hindu migration to the region, India’s only Muslim-majority state. The Indian constitution also prohibits outsiders from buying land in Kashmir.
In fact, since the start of the uprising for independence from mainly Hindu India, the Hindu population has plummeted. Of the estimated 200,000 Hindus, known as Pandits, who lived in the Kashmir Valley, once famed for its peaceful coexistence between religions, only some 10,000 remain. “This is an orchestrated campaign to vitiate the atmosphere,” said Arun Kumar, a senior government official and the head of Amarnath Shrine Board.
“We’re not building any permanent structure near the cave shrine, and there is no question of permanent settlements there,” he said, adding the plans were only for the construction of prefabricated shelters and bathrooms for the pilgrims. Ghulam Nabi Azad, the state’s chief minister, tried to ease the tension by promising on Wednesday that there would be no construction on the transferred land and pledging to meet with local political parties to address the protesters’ grievances.
On Friday, protesters burned flags and effigies of Indian leaders and pelted police with stones, chanting “Tyrants, leave Kashmir!” and “We want freedom!” Over the last five days of protests they have attacked police posts, burned vehicles, stoned tourist buses and hurled thousands of rocks at Indian forces patrolling the streets.
Police have retaliated by firing live ammunition into the air, lobbing tear gas shells, beating protesters with bamboo sticks and, in some cases, resorted to throwing rocks back at the protesters. Apart from the three people killed, nearly 200 protesters and 140 policeman have been injured and dozens of government and private vehicles damaged, said police officer Devinder Singh.
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