Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, today held emergency talks with opposition leaders in a bid to calm some of the worst Hindu-Muslim clashes seen in Kashmir in two decades.

Tensions have been simmering in the Himalayan region since June, when the state government rescinded a decision to gift about 40 acres of forest land to Amarnath, a Hindu cave shrine that hosts a revered stalagmite to build facilities for pilgrims.

The move, prompted by violent demonstrations from Kashmir’s Muslim majority, triggered furious counter-protests from Hindus.

In the riots, and running battles with police that followed, at least nine have been killed and hundreds injured.

In particular, Mr Singh hoped to gain an assurance from the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) that it will not fuel tensions in the area. It has been suggested that BJP activists have orchestrated a virtual siege of the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley by blocking trucks carrying supplies to the region.

Hindu protesters have also ripped up railway tracks around the city of Jammu, the state’s Hindu-dominated winter capital, which is under army curfew. Blockaded Muslim areas are reported to be running short of fuel, food and medical supplies.

This week, India’s Supreme Court banned mobile text messaging in the area, hoping to arrest the spread of rumours that may incite further unrest.

The BJP, which believes that the Muslim protests over Amarnath are part of wider move for a separate Muslim state, appeared last night to have given little ground.

A spokesman said: “The government is treating peaceful protesters who are opposing (the) decision of revoking land allotment to Amarnath Shrine Board as terrorists, while separatist forces are being treated as friends.”

Meanwhile, Muslim areas in the region were brought to a standstill by a general strike centred on the state’s summer capital of Srinagar, a stronghold for Islamic separatists.

Syed Ali Geelani, the hardline Islamic leader behind the strike, gave warning that a “massive agitation” in land were transferred to Amarnath. Muslim groups have claimed that the decision to grant land to Hindu shine was a first step in a process of Hindu colonisation.

Omar Abdullah, the Srinagar MP, said that the situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir was “the most polarised situation I have seen in a generation … One needs to step back from the brink and handle this very carefully.”

There are mounting fears that the Amarnath row could spill over into other parts of India to spark more Hindu-Muslim violence.

Today's Indian Express said: “Amarnath has deepened the Hindu-Muslim divide … It has exposed the fact that possibilities for intercommunity reconciliation are thinning daily and revealed how every political party has huge investments in a politics of divisiveness.”

Meanwhile, Indian forces today also stepped up security along the border with Pakistan in Kashmir following reports that 800 militant militants are looking to cross the line of control to execute terrorist attacks in India. The move followed reports of further exchanges of small arms fires across the border.

It followed a string of deadly bombings in Indian cities, responsibility for which has been claimed by Islamist extremists.

Relations between the two countries have been strained in recent weeks by Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

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