Curfew in Parts of Indian Kashmir After Violence

SRINAGAR, India — Indian authorities imposed an indefinite curfew in parts of an Indian Kashmir city Thursday following clashes with hundreds of Sikh protesters after bullets fired by police killed one person and injured two more.

Police fired at the stone-throwing protesters after tear gas and warning shots failed to quell them in Jammu, the winter capital of Indian Kashmir, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

He said three police officers were injured in the clashes.

Columns of Indian army soldiers marched through the violence-hit areas to restore calm, said Lt.-Col. Manish Mehta, an army spokesman.

The Sikhs were protesting the tearing away of posters of slain militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale by police in Jammu ahead of the anniversary of his death Saturday.

Militant Sikhs waged a guerrilla war in 1980s for an independent homeland in neighboring Punjab state. Sikhs comprise about 2 per cent of India's 1.2 billion people, but are a majority in northern Punjab state.

Many Sikhs live in Indian Kashmir. Jammu is a predominantly Hindu area in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

As the news of the killing of the protester spread on Thursday, thousands of Sikhs took to the streets to show their anger.

Authorities imposed a curfew and called the army to march in the area to halt the demonstrations. They also closed all schools and colleges for a day on Friday.

Late Thursday night, Sikh community leaders were making announcements on loudspeakers from their shrines, or"Gurdwaras" asking people to protest the killing of a Sikh.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan since British colonialists left the subcontinent in 1947. India and Pakistan have fought two wars over its control.

Some Muslim militant groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 65,000 people have been killed.