By AFP,
Srinagar, India : At least 60 people were injured when police and protesters clashed for a sixth day Saturday in Indian Kashmir as resistance to the transfer of land to a Hindu pilgrim group deepened.
The violent clashes came as a key separatist warned the unrest may spiral out of control if the land order is not reversed. “It will become impossible for the (separatist) leadership to control public anger if the order is not revoked immediately,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the moderate faction of the region’s main separatist alliance.
Three Kashmiris have died in police fire this week and more than 300 have been injured in clashes, evoking memories of widespread anti-India protests that swept the region after a separatist insurgency broke out in 1989.
The dispute also plunged the local administration into a crisis with a key political party pulling out of the coalition ruling Indian Kashmir on Saturday in protest against the government’s stand on the matter.
Daily life in the main city of Srinagar has come to a halt since the protests began Monday. Protesters have been setting fires, destroying government property and hoisting green Islamic flags.
Shops, offices and banks also remained shut for the sixth consecutive day as protests spread to other parts of Muslim-majority Kashmir valley. Riot police fired tear gas shells and shots in the air to disperse protesters at over a dozen places in Srinagar on Saturday, injuring 45 demonstrators, police and residents said. Fifteen policemen were also hurt.
Yasin Malik, a key separatist leading one of the protests, was also hurt, police officer Pervez Ahmed said. Thousands of people marched from downtown Srinagar to the commercial area of Lal Chowk, chanting “We want freedom” and “We will not allow sale of Kashmir.” The protests continued Saturday evening and police used teargas canisters to push demonstrators back. On Friday, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets of Srinagar in some of the biggest pro-freedom protests in almost two decades.
The unrest was sparked by a state government decision last week to transfer some land to a Hindu trust for the construction of accommodation for tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims making an annual pilgrimage to a mountain grotto. But separatists say it is a ploy to settle Indian Hindus in Kashmir. Officials dismiss the allegations, saying New Delhi has never tried to encourage Hindu migration to the disputed region.
The Indian constitution prohibits outsiders from buying land in Kashmir. Tensions have remained high despite a promise by the state’s chief minister that no construction would be permitted until further notice. Mehbooba Mufti, Peoples Democratic Party chief, told reporters his party had decided to withdraw their support to the ruling coalition since the state government has not revoked the land transfer order.
“We can’t remain insensitive to the sufferings of the people,” he said, referring to use of force against protesters. The party’s withdrawal has resulted in the Congress-led government losing its majority in the state assembly. The move could eventually lead to a confidence vote in the state assembly.