Kashmir CM says will revoke Hindu land decision

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad (R) speaks during a news conference in Srinagar June 29, 2008.

SRINAGAR (Reuters) - The Jammu and Kashmir government said on Sunday it would revoke its decision to transfer forest land to a Hindu shrine trust, a move that could defuse mass protests by Muslims across the Himalayan region.

The week-long protests started when authorities said they transferred nearly 100 acres to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), a Hindu trust, to erect temporary shelters for thousands of Hindu pilgrims who annually trek to a cave shrine in Kashmir.

The protests, some of the biggest since revolt against Indian rule broke out in 1989, have widened to become pro-independence rallies. Three people have been shot dead by police and hundreds have been hurt in clashes.

India and Pakistan, who have fought wars over Kashmir, claim the region in full but rule in parts.

Asked at a news conference if the government would revoke the land move, Ghulam Nabi Azad, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, replied "Yes".

The government decision comes day after a key partner in Kashmir's ruling coalition, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), withdrew their support over the land transfer.

Separatist leaders say the land transfer was aimed at changing the demography of Kashmir, mainly Hindu India's only Muslim-majority region. Environmentalists say any construction on forest land could ruin the region's fragile ecology.

Indian authorities have denied the charge.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, head of Kashmir's main separatist alliance, All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, said the peaceful protests would continue until authorities produced a "written revocation order."

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir in nearly two decades of insurgency.

During the two-month-long pilgrimage, thousands of devout Hindus from across India walk and ride ponies to the cave, situated at an altitude of 3,800 metres, to pray by an ice stalagmite they believe is a symbol of Hindu god Lord Shiva.

(For the latest Reuters news on India see: in.reuters.com, for blogs see blogs.reuters.com/in)