Kashmir braces for more violence

SRINAGAR, India -- As summer wanes in the Kashmir Valley, colorful tents dot the parks and gardens of Srinagar -- a signal that the traditional wedding season is under way.

But this year, over the aroma of spices and meats of the "wazwan" festive meal simmering in a hundred outdoor kitchens, hangs a new cloud of fear.

Having already suffered 12 years of separatist strife, Kashmiris now worry that the bombing in Afghanistan will lead to more bloodshed between the Himalayan province's Indian rulers and Muslim militants fighting for independence or union with neighboring Pakistan.

The larger danger is that India and Pakistan, which have fought two wars over Kashmir, could be plunged into a third, this time armed with nuclear weapons.

On Monday, the rival armies pounded each other with artillery across the cease-fire line dividing the province.

Even before U.S. and British warplanes started bombing in Afghanistan, Kashmiri violence had entered a new spiral.

On Oct. 1, a suicide bomb attack on the Jammu-Kashmir state legislature killed 40 people. Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamic militant group based in Pakistan, claimed responsibility, only to deny it later.

'Most dangerous place'

Since 1989, about a dozen Islamic militant groups have been battling to rid Kashmir of rule by Hindu India. Tens of thousands have died. India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding the rebels. Pakistan insists it only offers moral support.

Because of the neighbors' nuclear capabilities, former CIA director William Webster once called Kashmir the "most dangerous place in the world."

At the wedding, in the middle-class suburb of Natipora, the grim realities were momentarily forgotten as rosy-cheeked girls and old women joined hands in a tent, swayed and sang together and decorated the bride's hands and feet with henna.

But among the men in another tent, the conversation quickly drifted back to events in Afghanistan.

"Things will get worse in Kashmir," said Bilal Ahmed, a shopkeeper and father of the bride. "Militant groups will step up their killings to assert that they have not given up."

The male wedding guests sitting on carpets around Ahmed nodded in agreement.