Angry protests erupt in Kashmir as flames engulf holy Muslim shrine

Fire destroyed a revered Muslim shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday, prompting anti-government protests by residents angry over what they said was a slow response by firefighters.

At least 30 protesters and ten policemen were injured in clashes, police said. Shops and businesses remained closed.

The cause of the fire at the 200-year-old shrine of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani in the heart of Srinagar was not immediately known. The blaze started from the roof shortly after morning prayers and quickly engulfed the wooden structure, a police official said.

The 11th century saint, known worldwide as Ghaus-e-Azam, is buried in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The shrine, which held his relics, has served as an important centre of Islamic and spiritual teachings in Kashmir.

“The holy relics are safe and have been retrieved,” the official said.

Police and paramilitary soldiers laid razor wire and erected steel barricades on roads leading to the shrine, where thousands of men and women had gathered, many of them wailing and crying.

Scores of firefighters tried to tackle the flames, but protesters threw stones at them and burned a fire engine, saying their response was slow.

Thousands of people later crowded nearby streets, chanting anti-India slogans and demanding Kashmir’s freedom from Indian rule.

Clashes erupted in at least four other neighbourhoods in Srinagar, with protesters throwing stones at police and officers responding by firing bullets into the air and using tear gas, the police official said.

Authorities appealed for calm and ordered an investigation into the fire.

“It’s an unfortunate incident. The probe will be completed within a few days,” justice minister Ali Mohammed Sagar told reporters in Srinagar.

But separatists rejected the government investigation and instead called for an independent inquiry. They also called for a general strike today.

“It needs to be thoroughly probed as the custodians of the shrine informed us that the fire started at at least three places in the shrine,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a senior separatist leader. “We’ve no faith in government probes. They always use these tactics to becalm public anger.”

Typically, a single event, such as the shooting dead of a protester, can ignite serious unrest in Kashmir.

Infamously, in 2010, violence erupted after state-run Iranian station broadcasting on local cable TV repeatedly broadcast reports of Koran burnings in the United States. At least 18 people died in the rioting.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where rebel groups have fought since 1989 for independence from India or its merger with neighbouring Pakistan.

More than 68,000 people have been killed in the uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown.