Monday, July 7, 2008
Police clash with thousands of Kashmiri protestors, angry at transfer of land
Thousands of Muslim protesters angry at transfer of land to a Hindu shrine trust in Kashmir rioted with police and shut down the region for the eighth day on June 30, even after authorities said the decision would be revoked.
In some of the biggest protests since a separatist revolt broke out in 1989, Kashmiris protested the transfer of about 100 acres to a Hindu trust to erect temporary shelters for thousands of Hindu pilgrims annually trekking to a mountain shrine.
They said the move was a conspiracy to change the demography of mainly Hindu India's only Muslim-majority state.
A week of protests, in which four people were shot dead by police, led the state government to say the land move would be revoked. But protesters say they would not stop until they saw the written order.
"I appeal to people to continue peaceful protests till government revokes the order," Kashmir's senior hard line separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani said before leading a protest in downtown Srinagar.
Shops, businesses, schools and government offices remained closed across the Kashmir valley, police said.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, has not given a time frame for revoking the decision.
But Hindus in Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir where Hindus are in a majority, protested the government's "back down" and carried out a strike.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
In some of the biggest protests since a separatist revolt broke out in 1989, Kashmiris protested the transfer of about 100 acres to a Hindu trust to erect temporary shelters for thousands of Hindu pilgrims annually trekking to a mountain shrine.
They said the move was a conspiracy to change the demography of mainly Hindu India's only Muslim-majority state.
A week of protests, in which four people were shot dead by police, led the state government to say the land move would be revoked. But protesters say they would not stop until they saw the written order.
"I appeal to people to continue peaceful protests till government revokes the order," Kashmir's senior hard line separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani said before leading a protest in downtown Srinagar.
Shops, businesses, schools and government offices remained closed across the Kashmir valley, police said.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, has not given a time frame for revoking the decision.
But Hindus in Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir where Hindus are in a majority, protested the government's "back down" and carried out a strike.
To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://www.newsindia-times.com
Labels: angry, clash, Ghulam Nabi Azad, government, Hindu shrine trust, Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmiri Muslims, Kashmiri protestors, majority, people, pilgrims, Police, Srinagar, transfer of land
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