Posted 2008/08/06 at 7:45 am EDT
NEW DELHI, Aug. 6, 2008 (Reuters) — India's prime minister will hold an emergency meeting with political leaders on Wednesday to defuse a land row over a Hindu shrine in Kashmir which has sparked some of the state's worst religious riots in two decades.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose centre-left Congress party leads India's coalition government, will meet with a host of political parties, including the main Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Soldiers fired to stop stone-pelting Hindu protesters in Jammu from ransacking supply trucks headed for the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley on Wednesday, killing one person, police in Kashmir said.
The death took to at least nine the number of people killed in some of the worst disturbances since a Muslim separatist rebellion in Kashmir broke out in 1989. Hundreds have been injured.
The dispute began after the Kashmir government had promised to give forest land to the trust that runs Amarnath, a cave shrine visited by Hindu pilgrims for a revered stalagmite. Many Muslims were enraged.
The government then backed down on its decision. Many Hindus, in turn, were angered.
Congress says it is trying to strike a balance between the two communities, but the BJP has accused the Congress of pandering to anti-Indian "separatist elements."
"The government is treating peaceful protesters who are opposing (the) decision of revoking land allotment to Amarnath Shrine Board as terrorists, while separatist forces are being treated as friends," the BJP said in a statement.
Hindu leaders in Jammu complain that the government is not talking directly to them, and so Wednesday's meeting will be a waste of time.
"The decision will neither be binding on us nor will it be acceptable to us," said Leela Karan Sharma, who has been leading the movement to have the land given to the shrine.
VIOLENCE
For the past few weeks, angry protests have pulsed through both Jammu, the region's Hindu-dominated winter capital, and Srinagar, its mostly Muslim summer capital.
Hindu protesters in Jammu have lobbed rocks. Police have lobbed back tear gas. This week, at least three protesters were killed.
Hindu protesters also ripped up railway tracks and blocked trucks in the plains around Jammu. As a result, Muslims in the Kashmir valley are beginning to run short of food, fuel and medical supplies.
The Supreme Court has upheld a ban on mobile text messaging, hoping to end the spread of rumor mongering in Jammu.
On Wednesday, pigeons often outnumbered people in Srinagar's shuttered streets after a leader of a group calling for Kashmir's independence asked shops, schools and businesses to close.
"There are indications that land would be given back to the shrine board. I appeal to people to observe a complete strike on Wednesday," said Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The army has been sent to enforce curfews in Jammu over the past few days but has occasionally been overwhelmed by crowds of protesters. On Wednesday morning the streets were quiet and shuttered.
(Writing and reporting by Jonathan Allen; Additional reporting by Ashok Pahalwan in Jammu and Sheikh Mushtaq in Srinagar; Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Paul Tait)
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