Word: hindu
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...August, however, normalcy had been replaced by strife, death, curfews and checkpoints. The immediate cause of the conflict this time was a dispute between Muslims and Hindus over 100 acres (40 hectares) of land near the Amarnath shrine in the Kashmir valley, which Indian authorities had granted to a Hindu pilgrim group. A compromise now gives the group exclusive use, but not permanent title, to the land - which they will use to build temporary shelters during their annual trek - and the protests have subsided. But the prospect of losing any territory has brought back to the surface the decades...
...seemed to pass as the 21st Century took hold. But the old embers of discontent remained, indeed almost structurally preserved by the very way Kashmir is governed. It is part of a single Indian state called Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), where Jammu is a majority Hindu area which waters down the numbers of Kashmir's majority Muslims. And so, it took just one spark for the old fire to come roaring back...
...Valley had been on edge since June this year over the local government's move to "divert" 100 acres of land to a trust managing a Hindu pilgrimage. Muslim protests led the provincial government to rescind its order. That decision, however, infuriated Hindus, who blocked the highway to Srinagar, which while less than successful as an economic weapon led to the Muslims of the Kashmir Valley exploding in anti-India protest. Kashmiris saw the blockade as a symbol of Hindu India's willful ability to hold Muslim Kashmir in a vise. "The blockade was made out to be much worse...
...chaos has enveloped the Jammu side of the province. Since the government rescinded its diversion of land, the Hindu-dominated area of the state has seen widespread protests, in which at least 10 people have lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands have protested what they say is the special treatment given to the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. While J&K receives the highest per capita financial assistance from the federal government in New Delhi, they claim, most of those resources are channeled into the Valley. They point out that J&K is the only state with its own constitution...
...Delhi thus has two political fronts to deal with, one Muslim and one Hindu. Any concessions it might offer to those protesting in Srinagar will provide fodder to the equally vociferous protesters in Jammu. What's more, the Hindu right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party has taken the issue beyond the state of J&K into the rest of India, and seems set to make it an election issue during the general elections expected at the beginning of next year. Due to the protests, the state elections have been put off until next year...