Hindu-Muslim clashes kill 4, injure 80 in India

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MUMBAI, Oct 6 (Agencies): Clashes between Hindus and Muslims in a western Indian town left at least four people dead and 80 injured, forcing police to impose a curfew, an official said Monday.
The violence erupted Sunday when some Muslims tore up posters put up by a Hindu group near their shops in Dhule, a town 170 miles northeast of Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, police officer Jeet Patel said.
Local Muslims objected to the posters, which urged Hindus to wake up following a series of bomb blasts across Hindu-majority India. A group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for some of the bombings.
Muslims and Hindus attacked each other with stones and burned several shops, homes and vehicles in the area, Patel said. Police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse the rioters, he said.
Paramilitary soldiers also were called in to control the mob and a curfew was imposed in the area, Patel said. He said three people were killed in the mob violence and one by the police firing.
Muslims comprise nearly 25 per cent of Dhule's 550,000 people. Friction and misunderstandings sometimes spark clashes between the two communities, which otherwise live and work together.
India's Muslims, who account for about 14 per cent of the country's population of nearly 1.1 billion, lag far behind the Hindu majority in most social indicators, from literacy to household incomes
Meanwhile: Police warned Monday they would shoot any violators of an indefinite curfew imposed in Indian Kashmir to prevent a pro-independence rally.
Thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear drove through neighborhoods and went to people's homes warning them to stay indoors, said Ghulam Nabi, a resident of Nowhatta district in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's only Muslim majority state of Jammu-Kashmir.
In recent months the disputed Himalayan region has seen some of the largest protests against Indian rule in two decades. At least 45 people have died in the unrest, most of them killed when soldiers opened fire on Muslim demonstrators.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Indian-administered Kashmir, where most people favor independence from mainly Hindu India, or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.
Separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule, leaving an estimated 68,000 people, most of them civilians, dead.
Indian police and paramilitary forces also prevented people from visiting mosques for Monday morning prayers in Srinagar and other places in the region, residents said. Streets were deserted with shops, schools and businesses shut for the day.
Police announced over loudspeakers they would shoot anyone found violating the curfew, residents said.