KASHMIR, INDIA, August 5, 2002: This long New York Times report begins, “Shouting ‘Hail Hail Shiva!’ thousands of Hindu pilgrims crowded two narrow dirt tracks high in the Himalayan mountains of the disputed territory of Kashmir. Even though the pilgrimage is purely religious, it has not escaped the conflict in this battered territory. The threat of attacks by Muslim separatists who are fighting for an independent Kashmir has turned this once obscure pilgrimage into one of the most closely watched rites in ritual-filled India. In the past two years, Muslim militants have killed more than 40 Hindu pilgrims in attacks on the procession. This year, the Indian government has deployed thousands of policemen and soldiers to protect them.”
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