New Delhi: Protest in Srinagar on 14 September 2010 Analysts say the protests are the biggest security challenge to Indian rule in 20 years

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed to protesters in Kashmir to shun violence - as police shot dead four more demonstrators.

He spoke during an all-party meeting on how to resolve the crisis in Indian-administered Kashmir.

It will decide whether to lift 20-year-old emergency laws that shield Indian forces from prosecution.

Nearly 100 protesters have died in anti-India protests since June and the entire Kashmir Valley is under curfew.

The prime minister told Wednesday`s meeting at his home in the Indian capital, Delhi: "The only path for lasting peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir is through dialogue and discussion.

"We are ready for dialogue with anybody or any group that does not espouse or practise violence."

He added: "I was shocked and distressed to see young men and women - even children - joining the protests on the streets."

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main regional parties from Kashmir, among others, attended the talks.

Meanwhile, at least 12 people were injured in addition to the four killed in clashes on Wednesday in the town of Mendhar.

Several hundred protesters were demonstrating over alleged Koran desecrations in the US and were marching towards a Christian missionary school.

"We had to open fire to quell the mob that was marching towards the missionary school with intent of setting it ablaze," a police spokesman told the BBC.

He said that at least six government buildings had been set on fire.

A Christian school in the valley was burnt down by protesters on Monday, the worst day of violence so far this summer when police shot dead 18 civilians.

The BBC`s Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says that the targeting of Christian institutions is highly unusual, because there has been little communal violence in Indian-administered Kashmir in recent years.

Many analysts see the recent protests as the biggest challenge to Indian rule in Kashmir for two decades.

One suggestion, supported by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah - a government ally - is to ease 20-year-old emergency regulations as a gesture of goodwill.

But the security establishment and the BJP have opposed the move.

Critics say the Armed Forces Special Powers Act makes it impossible to prosecute the security forces for human rights violations.

But Indian generals argue that troops cannot operate in Jammu and Kashmir without the immunity available to them under the act.

The Kashmir dispute has been the cause of major tension between India and Pakistan for six decades.

BDST: 1845 HRS, September 15, 2010