| It doesn't take much, does it ... |
The blaze sparked fresh religious tensions in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, which has already seen days of violent protests over plans to transfer land to a Hindu pilgrimsÂ’ body, as rumours spread that police had set the fire.
Police said the fire at the shrine in Srinagar was accidental. “Initial reports suggest that the fire was caused by a short circuit,” said a police officer. “We brought the fire under control,” he said, calling the rumours “baseless and misleading.”
All the centuries-old relics at the shrine were safe, he added.
But news of the fire at the Jenab Sahib shrine, which is said to house a relic of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), drew thousands of Muslims onto the surrounding streets, shouting “Allah is great” and “Long live Islam.”
Police fired in the air, set off tear-gas shells and baton-charged the crowd that was pelting stones at security forces outside the shrine after some of the demonstrators tried to snatch rifles from the police. Protesters also hurled stones at a nearby paramilitary police camp and at a local police station, witnesses said. Some 30 people, including eight journalists, five policemen and six firemen were injured in the melee, police said.
Our correspondent adds: Kashmir Valley, particularly summer capital Srinagar, yesterday again witnessed pitched battles between irate mobs and the police during a one-day strike called by separatist Hurriyat Conference alliance against Friday's police assault on one of its leaders Syed Shabir Ahmed Shah. Shah who was hit by a policeman with a bamboo stick as he along with his supporters emerged from Hazratbal shrine after addressing a Friday congregation is recuperating in a city hospital.
Most shops and other businesses in Srinagar and some other Valley towns were closed. However, skeleton transport services plied on the roads.