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Quran protests in Kashmir, 14 killed
Source: Agencies |
September 14, 2010, Tuesday
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INDIAN forces killed 14 protesters and wounded scores of others yesterday in confrontations across India-controlled Kashmir fueled in part by a report that a Quran was desecrated in the United States, a police official said. A police officer was also killed.
The violence, the worst since separatist protests erupted in June, came as Indian officials debated whether to ease harsh security regulations to try to ease tensions in the disputed territory.
Despite a rigid curfew clamped across the region, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, throwing rocks, torching government buildings and chanting, "Go India, go back. We want freedom."
Security forces shot live ammunition at some of the crowds, killing people in at least five villages, said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While separatists had planned a new round of demonstrations following the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this weekend, the anger in the streets yesterday was far greater than in previous protests over the summer. They appeared to be inflamed by reports on the Iranian state-run channel Press TV that the Quran was desecrated over the weekend in the United States.
Though a Florida pastor called off his plans to burn the Muslim holy book, the channel showed footage of a different man destroying a Quran.
The protesters chanted "Down with Quran desecrators," and protest leaders denounced the alleged desecration in speeches to the crowds. There were also shouts of "Down with America" and "Down with Israel."
As the protests worsened, the station was removed from local cable networks at the insistence of Kashmiri authorities.
US Ambassador Timothy Roemer said the US government was "dismayed" by reports of the rioting and appealed for calm.
He also condemned any Quran desecration as "disrespectful, intolerant, divisive and unrepresentative of American values. The deliberate destruction of any holy book is an abhorrent act."
The violence, the worst since separatist protests erupted in June, came as Indian officials debated whether to ease harsh security regulations to try to ease tensions in the disputed territory.
Despite a rigid curfew clamped across the region, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, throwing rocks, torching government buildings and chanting, "Go India, go back. We want freedom."
Security forces shot live ammunition at some of the crowds, killing people in at least five villages, said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While separatists had planned a new round of demonstrations following the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this weekend, the anger in the streets yesterday was far greater than in previous protests over the summer. They appeared to be inflamed by reports on the Iranian state-run channel Press TV that the Quran was desecrated over the weekend in the United States.
Though a Florida pastor called off his plans to burn the Muslim holy book, the channel showed footage of a different man destroying a Quran.
The protesters chanted "Down with Quran desecrators," and protest leaders denounced the alleged desecration in speeches to the crowds. There were also shouts of "Down with America" and "Down with Israel."
As the protests worsened, the station was removed from local cable networks at the insistence of Kashmiri authorities.
US Ambassador Timothy Roemer said the US government was "dismayed" by reports of the rioting and appealed for calm.
He also condemned any Quran desecration as "disrespectful, intolerant, divisive and unrepresentative of American values. The deliberate destruction of any holy book is an abhorrent act."
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