JAMMU, Feb 3 (1998): At least 40 people were injured when Hindu protesters clashed with police here Tuesday over last month’s massacre of 23 Hindus by Moslem separatist guerrillas in Kashmir, witnesses said.
The police used tear gas and batons to beat back hundreds of Hindus after they broke through barricades, a witness said.
Some 500 protesters were arrested following the clash, which also injured five policemen witnesses said.
The Hindus are demanding the resignation of the Kashmir state government for the January 25 massacre in a Kashmir village.
The Indian government has blamed Pakistan for supporting the Moslem militants accused of killing the 23 Hindus in the disputed state of Kashmir.
Hindus in Moslem-majority Kashmir have demanded a homeland after the murderous attack, the bloodiest massacre since the start of an anti-Indian rebellion by Moslem rebels here in 1989.
Some 300,000 Hindus have fled Indian-administered Kashmir during the past nine years.
In less than a week after the massacre, Indian troops shot nine Moslems including a woman and a child on the holy Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr last Friday.
The Himalayan state is divided between India and Pakistan and has sparked two wars since 1947. More than 20,000 people have died in Kashmir during the past nine years.
India accuses Pakistan of training and arming Moslem militants.
Pakistan says it offers diplomatic support for a legitimate demand for self-determination. It wants a UN-brokered referendum to decide the future of the territory.
