SRINAGAR, India - Violent protests in Indian Kashmir entered their fourth day Thursday as police struggled to contain thousands of protesters angered over the provision of land in the Muslim region to Hindu pilgrims. Officials and witnesses said some 50 people were hurt in clashes as police used force at more than 20 places across the Kashmir valley in the revolt-hit and disputed Himalayan region.The protests, which began Monday, have left three Kashmiris dead in police firings, and nearly 200 others injured. The Kashmir valley hub of Srinagar has been transformed into a battleground littered with rocks and burned tyres. "The situation in the city is very tense," city police chief Syed Mujtaba told reporters, adding that reinforcements had been rushed to the worst-hit areas.
Tensions worsened overnight after police shot dead a third protester. Hundreds of youth were on the streets again Thursday, chanting slogans including, "We want freedom" and "Stop giving land to Indians."
Police later fired in the air, lobbed tear-gas canisters and used batons to disperse the demonstration, AFP photographers said. Police also used force to quell stone-pelting groups across the city of one million, including along the main road to Srinagar's high-security airport, witnesses said.
The protests were sparked by a local government decision last week to give land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, a Hindu trust, so it can build accommodation for tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims who make an annual pilgrimage to a mountain grotto. Faced with rapidly deteriorating security, the state's chief minister vowed Wednesday that nothing would be built for the pilgrims until further notice.
