Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister, held emergency talks with opposition leaders yesterday in an attempt to calm some of the worst Hindu-Muslim clashes in Kashmir for two decades.

Tensions have been simmering in the Himalayan region since June, when the state government rescinded a decision to give about 40 acres of forest land to Amarnath, a Hindu cave shrine that contains a revered stalagmite, to build facilities for pilgrims. The move, prompted by violent demonstrations by Kashmir’s Muslim majority, triggered counter-protests by Hindus. In riots and battles with police that followed, at least nine people were killed and hundreds injured.

Mr Singh hoped yesterday to gain an assurance from the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it would 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 lorries 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.

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The Indian Supreme Court banned mobile text messaging in the area this week, hoping to halt the spread of rumours that may incite more unrest.

The BJP, which believes that the Muslim protests over Amarnath are part of a 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 [the] 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, Srinagar, which is a stronghold for Islamic separatists.

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

Omar Abdullah, the Srinagar MP, said that the situation in the state of Jammu & Kashmir was “the most polarised 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. Yesterday’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.”

Indian forces stepped up security along the border with Pakistan in Kashmir yesterday after reports that 800 militants were trying to cross the line of control to mount terrorist attacks in India.

The move followed reports of exchanges of small-arms fire across the border. A string of recent deadly bombings in Indian cities have been claimed by Islamist extremists. Relations between the two countries have been strained by Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

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