Muslims Riot In Revenge For Destruction Of Mosque Hindu Temples, Schools Torched In Troubled Kashmir State

Angry crowds burned schools, government buildings and Hindu temples in the Himalayan state of Kashmir in apparent retaliation for the destruction of a 15th-century Muslim shrine. Police fired gunshots and tear gas to disperse them, killing at least one person Saturday.

A round-the-clock curfew remained in force for a third day across the Kashmir valley, but was lifted for three hours Saturday evening in some spots outside Srinagar, the summer capital, to allow people to stock up on food.

Rioting began after the mosque in Char-e-sharif caught fire and was destroyed Thursday in a battle between Indian troops and separatist guerrillas, who had been holed up in the shrine for two months.

The 5-year-old rebellion in Jammu-Kashmir - the only Muslim majority state in predominantly Hindu India - has killed 11,500 people.

The fighting in Char-e-sharif ignited fires that destroyed 1,500 homes and businesses in addition to the mosque, which was dedicated to Kashmir’s patron saint.

Soldiers found four more bodies in the smoking ruins of the town, raising the guerrilla death toll in the threeday battle to 27, the military said Saturday. Two soldiers also were killed in the fighting.

Nearly 100 schools, government buildings and private homes have been set on fire by protesters since Friday evening, United News of India news agency said. Officials said they could not confirm the number.

At least one person was shot and killed Saturday by police in Nawakadal, on the outskirts of Srinagar, officials said.

A reporter driving through Srinagar saw several small clashes between stone-throwing young men and troops, who responded with tear gas and by firing into the air.

Two Hindu temples were charred and smoking in the city, and fire officials said a third temple was set on fire to the south in the town of Anantnag. Several abandoned Hindu-owned homes also were attacked.

Hindu holy places have generally not been attacked since the early months of the insurrection.

Most of the Hindu population fled the Kashmir valley in early 1990, but the temples are still attended by security forces, who number up to 500,000 in Kashmir.

At a meeting Friday of India’s top political leaders, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha was quoted as saying planning will go ahead for state legislative elections. The previous assembly was dismissed seven years ago, and the governor is appointed by the government in New Delhi.

Critics say holding elections would aggravate tensions and incite more violence. Kashmir’s Muslims say they will boycott the vote.

India has accused its neighbor, mostly Muslim Pakistan, of fomenting the rebellion in Kashmir, but the Pakistani government says its role is limited to diplomatic and moral support for Kashmir’s Muslims.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Sardar Assef Ali accused India on Saturday of threatening war over Kashmir - the flash point for two previous wars. He said Pakistan’s soldiers routinely are on high alert along the troubled border.

India’s independent Human Rights Commission said Saturday that 39 soldiers have been punished in Kashmir for human rights violations in the last four years and as many as 245 cases of such violations had been registered.

The commission was set up by India’s government last year under pressure from Western countries.

Details of the soldiers’ violations and punishments were not immediately known.

Human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have accused Indian troops of indiscriminately killing civilians and raping women.