Police protecting Christian buildings from violent mobs in Kashmir

(September 16, 2010) Police in India-controlled Kashmir surrounded Catholic churches and schools to protect them after violent mobs went on a rampage September 13, throwing Molotov cocktails at government and Christian buildings. "There are policemen everywhere, wherever there are churches and schools, to protect Christian sites," Bishop Peter Celestine Elampassery of Jammu and Srinagar, India, told Fides, the news agency. Protesting against both Indian control of Kashmir and against a Florida minister's threat to burn the Quran, the predominantly Muslim separatists staged violent protests in several cities throughout the Kashmir valley on September 13. Police reported 18 deaths among the demonstrators and said more than 80 people, including police officers, were injured. "We are very sad for what has happened. We are very concerned. The Christian community, which has always been at peace, feels threatened," said Bishop Elampassery. The bishop said no Catholic churches were damaged, although Molotov cocktails were thrown at the outside walls of Good Shepherd School in Pulwama. "We feel helpless and powerless in the face of this wave of senseless violence," the bishop said. "We have nothing against the Muslims whom we respect as brothers. However, a violent minority is fuelling the tension," he said. Of an estimated 10 million people living in Kashmir there are about 15,000 Catholics and about 10,000 members of other Christian communities.