Three people were killed in Indian Kashmir today when police clashed with Muslim protesters as the government and opposition parties met in New Delhi to try to end the worst violence in the region in years.
The deaths came two days after the worst single episode of violence in two decades of protests against Indian rule and are the latest in a three-month long series of demonstrations in the Himalayan region.
At least 10 people were seriously injured in the latest round of protests, in the Mendhar area of Poonch, a district which has rarely seen separatist demonstrations, about 120km south of Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar.
"We had to open fire when our repeated attempts failed to disperse the mob who were trying to reach to a nearby Christian missionary school in the area," a police official said.
The protests appeared to have been sparked by reports of a plan by a US pastor to burn the Koran but may have ballooned into anti-India demonstrations.
The pastor abandoned his plan to burn the Koran to mark the anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States.
The latest deaths in Indian Kashmir put more pressure on the federal government, which has been criticised for failing to treat the protests seriously, underscoring a policy limbo in New Delhi that may spill over into tension with Pakistan, which claims the region.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh is meeting leaders from all political parties in Kashmir to find a way to end the violence, and some news reports have suggested the government may withdraw a controversial law that gives armed forces in Kashmir immunity from prosecution for killings.
Eighteen people were killed, nearly all of them in police firing, on Monday during demonstrations in the region.
Reuters