Protests turn violent in Kashmir
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The state of Jammu and Kashmir is the only Muslim majority state in India.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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SRINAGAR, India (CNN) -- Antiwar protests turned violent in the city of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's northern state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the city center, protesters came out after midday Friday prayers, shouting anti-U.S. slogans and pelting stones at passing cars.
Police were forced to use batons and tear gas to disperse crowds. One child was injured in the baton charge. In other parts of the city shops remain closed.
Another procession that emerged from Srinagar's largest mosque was stopped by police. The 4,000-strong crowd then burned the effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush.
Police fired tear gas at the protesters as the crowds threw stones at security forces.
In a separate protest held earlier, 800 people marched through the streets of the town of Anantnag in southern Kashmir.
This protest remained peaceful but police and paramilitary troops have been put on alert around the state.
Hundreds of people also turned out at protest marches in various cities in the Kashmir valley.
The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is the only Muslim majority state in India.
It has also been the scene of bloody violence since a militant Muslim separatist insurgency began in 1989. Tens of thousands have been killed.
India accuses Pakistan of providing funding, weapons and other support for Islamic militants to carry out attacks on its territory.
Pakistan denies the charge, saying it only provides moral and diplomatic support to what it calls a legitimate Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.
