Word: hindu
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...stunning Kashmir Valley lies a natural cave called Amarnath, where stalagmites form during the summer months. Devout Hindus believe this cave to be one of the holiest sites of their religion, and that the largest of the ice formations is a Shiva Lingam, the symbol of Lord Shiva. Hindu mythology has it that Shiva - the destroyer in the Hindu Trinity that includes Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver - imparted the secrets of creation to his consort, Parvati, in Amarnath. Each year, during the months of July and August, hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims from across India and abroad...
...warming, others on heightened human activity near the shrine). However, for more than two months now, this small, 150 ft high and 90 ft long cave has been the center of a raging communal and political storm in the state of Jammu and Kashmir - one that has divided the Hindu and Muslim populations of the state. Now, the Hindu rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to make it a major issue leading up to the general elections next year, with potentially explosive results...
...coming in (so far this year, over 500,000 pilgrims have already visited) the government reasoned that more temporary shelters were required. And so on May 26 the ruling Congress-led government of Jammu and Kashmir decided to divert 100 acres of forest land to erect such facilities for Hindu pilgrims...
...even the most fanatical of such alleged settlers - the area is uninhabitable for much ofthe year.) But once the fears spread, protests in Kashmir grew. The government eventually backed down and revoked the shelter order on July 1. That, in turn, led to a backlash from Hindus in the Hindu-majority Jammu region of the state, with right-wing parties including the BJP jumping in to protest against what they alleged was capitulation to "Muslim separatists...
...disaffected Muslims. A federal report released in 2006 found that the country's 138 million Muslims are poorer than other Indians, less educated and vastly under-represented in India's largest employer, the railways, and its civil service. While many political parties pledge to defend India's Muslims against Hindu nationalism, they rarely deliver promised roads, jobs and schools. "The disaffection of Indian Muslims is not any different in its quality from the disaffection of other parts of the underclass, whether Muslim, Christian or Hindu," says Bharat Karnad, a professor of national-security studies at the New Delhi - based Centre...