Tens of thousands of demonstrators paralyzed cities in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday with protests against what they charge is a government plan to build Hindu settlements to change the religious balance in the Muslim-majority region. Police used tear gas and fired live ammunition into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowds, which assembled for a sixth straight day in some of the largest protests against Indian rule since a separatist rebellion broke out in the Himalayan region nearly two decades ago. Three people have been killed, hundreds have been wounded and scores of vehicles have been set on fire, said Prabhakar Tripathi, a spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force. At least 12 paramilitary soldiers were injured Saturday in clashes with protesters, he said. The protests were sparked by the recent transfer of 99 acres (40 hectares) of land by the state government to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, a trust running a Hindu shrine, to construct facilities for the hundreds of thousands of devotees who flock there every year. But Kashmiris, long mistrustful of an Indian government that has suppressed the uprising with a heavy hand and has some 700,000 soldiers based in Kashmir, believe that India plans to turn the structures into a permanent settlement for Hindus. Indian officials dismiss the allegations, saying India has never tried to encourage Hindu migration to the region, India's only Muslim-majority state. The Indian constitution also prohibits outsiders from buying land in Kashmir. There were indications Saturday that the unrest could spread beyond protests against the shrine. “The issue does not stop there,” said Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, head of the moderate faction All Parties Hurriyat Conference. “There are thousands of acres of land occupied by the Indian army that also needs be addressed.” Syed Ali Shah Geelani, leader of a hard-line separatist group, vowed that “our struggle will continue till we get our everything back.”
