E/CN.4/1997/91/Add.1 page 9 rise, particularly freedom of religious practice and freedom to organize their services according to their codes, religious teachings and customs. 33. They nevertheless stressed the upsurge of Hindu extremism to which Christian representatives had also drawn attention (see paras. 56 to 62 below), and which takes the form of violence against places of worship (see paras. 37 to 51 below). 34. The Special Rapporteur received contradictory information concerning Jammu and Kashmir. According to an initial source, the Indian authorities were following a policy of intolerance, religious discrimination and even religious repression against a Muslim population which was seeking independence and/or union with Pakistan in order to be able freely to practise Islam and manage its religious affairs. 35. According to several non-government and official sources, the authorities were trying to provide Muslims with guarantees of their freedom of belief and religious practice. However, the religious situation was said to be seriously affected by the armed conflict in Kashmir as a result of the extremism of a minority of terrorists, Indians and foreigners, financed, trained and supported by Pakistan in order to achieve union with the latter. The conflict was said to be not religious but political, and one in which religion was being manipulated to achieve ends that had absolutely nothing to do with it. (b) Religious education 36. In accordance with the relevant constitutional provisions on religious minorities, the Muslim community has its own educational establishments, including the madrasa religious schools responsible for disseminating the teachings of Islam. Jammu's State authorities considered the situation as regards religious instruction to be satisfactory, although they drew attention to cases in which the madrasa had been officially closed for having promoted extremism in Jammu and Kashmir. (c) Places of worship and religious property 37. Muslims in the Indian States, apart from Jammu and Kashmir, possess a large number of places of worship as well as a body called the Waqf Board responsible for the management of property belonging to religious communities and charitable institutions. 38. However, it is said that more places of worship and/or their enlargement is necessary, particularly in Bombay. The authorities have recognized the Muslim community's need for mosques in Bombay - a need which is pointed up during Friday prayers by the presence of the faithful praying in the streets owing to the small size of places of worship. They admitted that this shortcoming could be explained by the interminable administrative formalities connected with the construction or enlargement of mosques, and noted that it was basically due to red tape, demographic pressure and road traffic density which aggravated the situation.