June 21, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 16, 1429

SRINAGAR, June 20: Police in occupied Kashmir on Friday fired teargas and used batons against protesters angered by a decision to transfer forest land to Hindu pilgrims visiting the Muslim-majority region.

The government last week said the land was being transferred to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board so that it could build “temporary structures” for tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims who trek to a Himalayan cave every year.

Kashmiri politicians say building accommodation for pilgrims at the base of the mountain will ruin the fragile ecology of the area and also reinforce India’s occupation of the disputed region.

On Friday scores of protesters came out of Srinagar’s main mosque and chanted anti-New Delhi slogans. The protesters tried to march towards the town’s main commercial centre when police charged at them with batons and later fired teargas, an AFP reporter at the scene said. Several people were hurt.—AFP