Authorities in Indian Kashmir said Monday they had banned Iran's state-run news channel Press TV after it broadcast images of a small group of Christians ripping the Koran in Washington.
Video of the weekend stunt was blamed for stoking simmering anger in Kashmir, where security forces shot dead 12 demonstrators on Monday and a mob torched a church-run school.
"We have decided to impose a ban on the airing of Press TV broadcasts by local cable operators," the state chief secretary S.S. Kapur told reporters in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.
"We appeal to the people not to heed unverified reports about the alleged desecration of the Holy Koran which have only been aired by Press TV and no other television news channel in the world," he said.
Anti-India demonstrations have raged for the last three months, with 83 civilians killed in protests in the disputed Muslim-majority region.
A small group of conservative Christians tore some pages from a Koran in a protest outside the White House Saturday to denounce what they called the "charade of Islam" on the anniversary of 9/11.
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