Amarnath Land Deal

**acharya** · 08-03-2008, 12:21 AM

Kashmiris Moral Victors, Back Jammu Muslims: Geelani
E-mail Print PDF
Srinagar, Aug 01, KONS: The chairman of the Hurriyat (G), Syed Ali Shah Geelani, today said that Kashmiri people had scored a moral victory over fanatic Hindus, and that the entire Kashmiri nation was at the back of Jammu Muslims.
Addressing a Tehreek-e-Hurriyat rally in Tral, Geelani said that the Hurriyat would not be oblivious to the explosive situation in Jammu and that a sharp eye was being kept on the developments.
âKashmiris cannot remain disconnected with the ongoing situation (in Jammu) for long. The Kashmiri agitation over the transfer of land has put communalists in despair, and they have realized that Indian brutality and oppression have been beaten by the spirit of Kashmiris,â he said.
âWe have to proceed with extreme caution and defeat the designs of communalists. The life, property and honour of non-Kashmiris living here must be protected at all costs,â he said.

Geelani described the economic blockade by communalists as a âcruel gambit,â saying that the communal elements were devoid of compassion.
âKashmiris have always given due respect to non state subjects, and Jammu Muslims will not left at the mercy of extremists like in 1947,â he said.

Commenting on the freedom struggle and the global situation Geelani said that the this was the appropriate time to put the movement on the path of self-reliance so that it does not have to depend on any other country.
âBailt-ul-Maal (public treasuries) must be set up in every locality, and an organized and integrated approach adopted for the rehabilitation of the victims of violence,â he said.

âIf the nations adopts the motto of self-reliance and displays unity of purpose, I can guarantee freedom,â he said.
Appealing for a total boycott of the forthcoming elections, Geelani said that that would send a message to India and pro-India forces that Kashmiris were not for sale, and would not trade off their pride and right to freedom.

08-03-2008, 01:06 AM

Unfortunately, it falls on Hindus to protect themselves. The gov't clearly is unwilling to do anything.

Regarding the Geelani's whine about the blockade, wasnt the prevailing sentiment in the valley that they would get supplies from Muzaffarabad?

I think they have suddenly realized how vulnerable they are. If we had a strong centre, Im sure it would not have wasted the opportunity to apply pressure.

08-03-2008, 06:29 AM

Fight to finish: Need of the hour

There is nothing wrong if journalists too come to streets wearing black badges to register their resentment directly, besides giving wide coverage to the ongoing agitation in Jammu. If the agitators win or loose, we journalists too will be affected..

ENOUGH WATER has flown down the river Tawi and enough blood has been spilled on roads but Vohraâs dictatorial administration is not moved. Jammuites have been crying hoarse for justice but nobody is listening. And all the while Omar is elated that his remarks have hit the right chords in Kashmir and so called secularists in India and to top it all our national media has maintained a criminal silence for the past one month since the agitation erupted in Jammu.

The maximum any national media, particularly print media, has done is to publish a 4cmX4cm picture along with a 5cmX4cm long news item in the front page news capsules while a routine frisking of Kashmiris in the Valley has found bottom spreads or front page top photo slots in most of the national dailies.

If the agitating youth have shown resentment towards national media, they are fully justified because the anger that is erupting like lava in Jammu has seen such discrimination for the past six decades. The journalists working in Jammu for the national print and electronic media can not escape the blame because they too have failed to convey the gravity of the situation in Jammu and the anger against the national media on Jammu streets to their headquarters.

The journalists in Kashmir valley worked out numerous ways to make the so called secular media bosses feel that Kashmir was burning and needs huge coverage. I have been a correspondent of a national daily and from a one column story, the same daily used to devote full page to Jammu in its regional section in 1995-96, when there was no concept of regional editions of national dailies in Jammu.

Anyway, media bias has been the fate of Jammuites for a long time now and New Delhi has always treated the nationalism of this region as inferior to Kashmir valley, which is evident from an article of Balraj Puri in which he has explained how Nehru wanted political boss from Kashmir and constitutional head from Jammu to keep Jammuites in good humour while Kashmir reaps the benefits of the governance.

When Lt Gen SK Sinha was humiliated by the Peopleâs Democratic Part (PDP) and the Congress instead of giving a warm farewell, it were again Jammuites who realised his deep rooted nationalism and bade him a warm and tumultuous farewell from the state.

But for Vohra, Jammuites have displayed only anger because of his old loyalty with Hurriyat conference since the days of his being Centreâs interlocutor for talks with separatists.

It is this tilt in the policy of the new governor that Jammuites no longer hope for any justice from him and have rejected any talks with him.

As far as Vohra is concerned, he has come to this state with a proper brief from the Congress high command and that brief seems to be to crush the Jammuites with iron hand and use the velvet glove for Kashmiris, otherwise how can he justify the brutal force being used against Jammuites for a normal democratic way of protesting for their rights.

Why should administration impose curfew when it had permitted the condolence meet in memory of martyr Kuldeep Dogra and then shower âlathisâ over people as if they were animals? Why should administration shirk from taking action against Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) ML Kaith instead of glorifying his misadventure (Kaith was SDPO Bakshi Nagar) when he swooped over the peacefully agitating Sangarsh Samiti members and snatched the body of martyr Dogra from them, dragged it on road, arrested his family members, bundled them in a waiting police van and took them to Bishnah some 25 kms from Jammu city. Kaith then hurriedly ordered for a pyre, poured kerosene oil, liquor and rubber tyres over the pyre and tried to burn it before dawn in total disregard to Hindu customs of not lighting the pyre before sunrise and after sunset. The police men also beat up his widow Shilpi in front of the pyre and tore her clothes and beat her up with gun buts and lathis. 
{What a bloody hell :x }

However, later, local residents snatched the half brunt body and preformed last rites later in the day. Since then Jammu has been burning continuously over the issue. Why should administration not explain why Jammu has to bear the brunt of long power cuts even though huge electricity is being saved on account of the bandh and stoppage of every commercial activity in the region?

However, what Vohraâs administration can do is to order attachment of Kaith to police lines and reward him with a course in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to vitiate the atmosphere in CBI when he gets opportunity to serve there.

Attachment of an officer is no punishment even though it is known that this kind of a heinous crime is punishable with 10 years of imprisonment. The administration should have suspended him on the day one and ordered a judicial probe besides asking the police force to go easy on protestors if at all Vohra wanted to win the hearts of Jammuites.

But to rub the salt over our injuries the Div Com and Inspector General (IG) have been terming the situation as well under control and justifying the desecration of Kuldeepâs body besides vowing to crush the agitation with an iron hand.

Jammuites must act fast and teach this brutal administration a lesson once for all that Jammuites will no longer accept the lolly-pops and want complete justice, which includes equal political power, more assembly seats, and above all a separate statehood for Jammu. The time is running out and administration is waiting for the day when Jammuites start disintegrating through the well architected moves of Vohraâs old diplomacy so that Jammuites are crushed again after corrupting a few Jai Chands among them.

Some Jai Chands have already initiated their indirect attacks by calling for a new body to spearhead the agitation or resenting the association of a particular political party in it forgetting that by this attitude they are only harming the cause of Jammu by playing into the hands of Vohraâs Kashmir policy.

Vohra is an old hand in pushing the Kashmiris cause at New Delhi and believing that he will do anything for Jammu is to live in a foolâs paradise. Kaithâs attachment and a course in CBI is just a tip of this biased iceberg of Vohraâs diplomacy.

The agitation has to go on and for this, the entire Jammu region has to bear the brunt for some time till we break the stiff backbone of the administration. Letâs motivate our youth, politicians, lawyers, journalists and everybody to join this first ever mass movement and achieve the desired goal. Letâs pledge not to let the sacrifice of martyr Dogra go waste.

While everybody is contributing his bit towards the agitation including the journalists the time has come for the journalists too to shun the cloak of pseudo-secularism and join their brethren in the field by at least taking out a silent march in the streets of Jammu to show our solidarity with the agitators who have been bearing the âlathisâ of the Vohraâs administration for the past one month.

There is nothing wrong if journalists too come to streets wearing black badges to register their resentment directly; besides giving wide coverage to the ongoing agitation in Jammu because if the agitators win or loose, we journalists too will be affected. Letâs resolve to provide our whole hearted support to the agitators and achieve our desired goal of discrimination-free share in the governance and equal rights for Jammu region.

08-03-2008, 06:30 AM

Hindu intifada

By Kanchan Gupta
Images can have a profound impact and make a lasting impression even on the most cynical among us. They can also act as a force multiplier in a conflict zone. Recall the photographs and television footage of teenaged Palestinian boys in Gaza and the West Bank confronting Israeli tanks armed with no more than shepherd's slings; of young men, their faces half-covered with handkerchiefs and kafiyeh, racing through billowing clouds of tear gas to hurl stones at soldiers armed with assault rifles; of middle-aged and old women violating police pickets and defying curfew. That was the first time we heard of a little-used Arabic word, intifada, which literally means to shake off but in recent times has come to mean a rebellion premised on the Biblical tale of David vanquishing Goliath, a relentless mass protest born of festering anger, deep-seated grievance and overwhelming, uncontrollable rage.

We are witnessing a similar intifada in Jammu province where young and old, men and women, are locked in an unequal battle with the police -- and, since Friday, the Army -- demanding the immediate revocation of the Government order cancelling the transfer of 800 kanals of land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board. The land was meant for creating temporary facilities for pilgrims who trek to the Amarnath shrine every year, braving inclement weather and jihadi attacks. This time, it's a Hindu intifada, an outpouring of pent-up anger which has brought life in Jammu and other towns and villages in the province to a standstill.

It's been more than a month that the Hindus of Jammu have taken to the streets, burning tyres, taunting policemen, braving tear gas and real bullets, violating curfew and blockading the highway to Srinagar. The images emanating from Jammu are eerily similar to those that emanated from Gaza and the West Bank during the Palestinian intifada. More tellingly, the tactics that have been adopted by the protesters are those that have often brought Kashmir Valley to a standstill. If you look at the photographs of the Hindu intifada, you will get a sense of how Jammu has decided to give Kashmir a taste of its own medicine -- in this case it is Dum Dum dawai.

The details of the land transfer fiasco are well-known. The Congress-PDP Government headed by Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad had instructed the Forest Department to transfer the land to the SASB. Within days Muslims in the Kashmir Valley, led and instigated by pro-Pakistani separatists, took to the streets, insisting no land should be provided for pilgrim facilities. The All-Party Hurriyat Conference spread three canards: First, the transfer amounted to alienation of 'Kashmiri land'; second, it would lead to intrusion of 'Hindu culture' in Muslim Kashmir; and, third, it would cause ecological damage.

The PDP, sensing an opportunity to revive its pro-separatist -- if not brazenly anti-India/ anti-Hindu -- image in the run-up to the Assembly election in Jammu & Kashmir, joined the protest and subsequently withdrew from the Government. To his credit, Mr Azad stood firm and refused to budge from his Government's decision, till Mr NN Vohra took over as Governor, replacing Gen SK Sinha. Mr Vohra, in his capacity as ex-officio chairman of the SASB, wrote a letter to Mr Azad, returning the land and also offering to relinquish the board's task of organising the annual yatra, thus making the pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine subordinate to the Valley's Muslims Ã¼ber alle politics and Delhi's equally odious politics of Muslim appeasement.

Mr Vohra reportedly sent his letter to Mr Azad at 8.30 pm on June 28. "The news of that abject surrender provoked an explosion of outrage across Jammu," says a senior member of the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, a broad-based organisation without any political affiliation which is at the forefront of the protest. "The Governor has violated the SASB Act. He cannot act unilaterally. Any decision of the board has to be endorsed by at least five members," says Prof Hari Om, academic and activist. "He is also in contempt of the High Court which had passed an interim order approving the transfer of 800 kanals of land to the board in Baltal," he adds.

For all his efforts to appease the Muslim protesters in Kashmir Valley by 'returning' the land that had been allotted for Hindu pilgrims, Mr Vohra was unable to save the Congress-PDP Government. The PDP pulled out from the ruling alliance on June 28; on July 1, Mr Azad, obviously under mounting pressure from his party bosses in Delhi, reversed the earlier decision.

Meanwhile, in Jammu there was a spontaneous shutdown on June 30. "I don't recall such a massive bandh in recent years," says a lawyer who has been involved with the protest; he does not wish to be named, fearing harassment by authorities. Neither do the protesters wish to be identified because they fear they will be picked up from their homes by the police who take their instructions from Srinagar.

So, every morning, afternoon, evening and night, students, workers, professionals, senior citizens and housewives take to the streets, engaging the police in dogfights, hurling tear gas shells back at their tormentors, chasing cops when they are outnumbered, retreating into narrow alleys when the men in uniform regather, and then surging out all over again. Their faces masked with handkerchiefs, they hurl stones; their eyes reflecting their rage. Scores have been shot and wounded; three of them have died; a young man was chased across rooftops by the police -- he jumped to his death.

"Each death only makes us more determined. We are not going to be bullied by the Valley any more. Jammu wants a voice of its own. Jammu's Hindus will no longer tolerate oppression by Kashmir's Muslims," says a young protester, still in his teens, from his house in downtown Jammu. His voice has just begun to crack.

The day after the June 30 bandh, Jammu flared up with street marches and protest rallies. The authorities responded by clamping curfew, in an effort to force people to remain indoors, till July 7. Women came out of their homes and dared the police to shoot them. An enduring image of the Hindu intifada is that of an aged woman, a Pandit who was forced out of the Valley along with her family and three lakh other Pandits in the early days of jihadi terror, threatening a Kalashnikov-sporting policeman at a curfew picket with her tattered and torn slipper.

On July 7, the Congress-PDP Government officially exited office; the next day the Sangharsh Samiti suspended its agitation, giving the Governor a fortnight's time to either have the land restored to the SASB or resign from office. "Mr Vohra did neither. He only added fuel to the fire by telling some people who went to plead with him, 'Why should I bother about Jammu? Does Jammu matter? Does Jammu exist?' He has been insensitive and his actions have only served to provoke the protesters," says a senior official in the Jammu administration.

"Years of neglect of Jammu by Kashmir has resulted in what you are seeing today. The people are frustrated. The Pandits have at last found a platform to vent their anger. Jammu has more people than Kashmir, but the lion's share always goes to the Valley," says Prof Hari Om.

Jammu province has 37 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies. Kashmir Valley has 46 Assembly seats and elects three Lok Sabha MPs. Of the 37 Assembly constituencies in Jammu province, 25 have a Hindu-majority population; the remaining 12 have a Muslim-majority profile. "Our voice naturally gets drowned," says an advocate who is a member of the Sangharsh Samiti.

The natural beneficiary of the Hindu intifada would be the BJP. It could end up sweeping all the Hindu-majority seats in Jammu province and even emerge as the single-largest party in the next Assembly. The Muslim vote in the Valley would be divided between the National Conference and the PDP. The Congress could get wiped out -- it has little to claim as support in the Valley; following the intifada in Jammu, it can't look forward to winning 15 seats in this province as it did in 2002.

This should have set alarm bells ringing at the Congress headquarters in Delhi. Strangely, the party's 'high command' doesn't seem to care. Or so it would seem from the near non-response to the protest.

Mr Vohra and his patrons in Delhi have "clearly underestimated the determination of Jammu's long-suffering Hindus who have had to cope with denial and deprivation for decades as the State Government focuses only on the Kashmir Valley," the advocate-activist says.

This explains what happened on July 22. Kuldeep Raj Dogra, in his mid-30s, who was participating in a hungerstrike at Jammu's Parade Ground, decided to do something tragically dramatic: He consumed poison, stood up to read out a passionately patriotic poem he had penned, faltered and fell dead. "It was his way of registering his protest against Mr Omar Abdullah's speech in Parliament ... he was incensed by the National Conference leader's duplicity," says Prof Hari Om.

The police panicked. They forcibly took away Kuldeep's body to his hometown, Bisnah, 15 km from Jammu, and "tried to cremate it using old tyres, kerosene oil and liquor", according to a Sangharsh Samiti leader. Kuldeep's widow, Shilpi, tried to prevent the cremation and raised a hue and cry. The police have been accused of "insulting, abusing and assaulting" Shilpi to silence her. But a huge crowd gathered and snatched Kuldeep's body from the police. It was taken to Jammu and the situation subsequently just went out of control.

Since then, the Hindu intifada has gathered both force and speed. Curfew has been clamped on all of Jammu and Samba. The Army has been called out. The Governor has been virtually forced to remain confined within the Raj Bhavan by protesters who continue to gather at the gates in large numbers with every passing hour. Mr Vohra's 'eight-point formula', which included "allowing" the SASB to "maintain infrastructure during the yatra period", to end the deadlock, has been spurned. The Sangharsh Samiti is adamant that it will settle for nothing less than restoration of the 800 kanals of land to the SASB for Hindu pilgrims.

Just how determined the protesters are can be gauged from the manner in which thousands of them laid siege to the airport after hearing that Mr Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti were flying in. They had to be flown from the airport to the Raj Bhavan in a helicopter after the protesters refused to let them through.

Since Friday night, the intifada has escalated and spread to virtually every corner of Jammu province. Protesters, defying curfew, have been relentlessly pouring out into the streets throughout the night, daring policemen and Army personnel to shoot them. Two men were shot dead, 35 were injured when the police fired on protesters ransacking the District Magistrate's office in Samba. By mid-afternoon on Saturday, the intifada was truly raging in Jammu and beyond.

All trucks headed for Srinagar have been stopped by protesters at Samba and on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway. No trucks are being allowed to enter Jammu from Srinagar. Kashmir's Muslims could yet get to know what it feels like to be at the receiving end of popular fury and mass anger, as opposed to the Valley's made-in-Pakistan rage.

08-04-2008, 02:16 AM

QUOTEJammu stir spreading fast 
Pioneer.com
Mohit Kandhari | Jammu
Curfew imposed in Rajouri, Bhaderwah, Udhampur
The agitation over the Amarnath land transfer issue is fast spreading to other districts in Jammu region. On Sunday, the State administration clamped curfew in two more districts of Rajouri and Udhampur and Bhaderwah town of Doda district to prevent any untoward incident. The district magistrate in Jammu blacked out local TV news channel to crush mass movement of people, which entered 33rd day. Meanwhile, the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti intensified its agitation further by extending Jammu bandh call till August 8.Â Â

According to Jammu divisional commissioner Sudhanshu Pandey, the curfew was imposed in Rajouri and Bhaderwah on Sunday while Udhampur district was brought under curfew restrictions late on Saturday night.

Reports reaching here said tension prevailed in Doda district and police force was deployed in sensitive areas to prevent any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, Army stationed in Jammu staged flag march in sensitive areas.

In curfew-bound Jammu, trouble started early on Sunday morning when district authorities prohibited transmission of JK Channel and also seized equipment used for operation of cable television network under section 11 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995. The District Magistrate noted in its order dated August 2, 2008 that the channel has been glorifying violence/communal hatred, regional disaffection in its reporting and airing panel discussions and interviews without editing to conform to the provisions of section 5 of the Act.

Massive protests started soon after outside the office of the cable channel where police force clashed with agitators. Senior special correspondent of Aaj Tak Ashwini Kumar, camera team of Aaj Tak, NDTV and a few others were injured in police action. Another local channel, Take I, was also blacked out by the DM on similar grounds.

Meanwhile, intensifying its agitation, leaders of the Sangharsh Samiti on Sunday extended Jammu bandh till August 8, making it clear that the agitation would continue till forest land was restored to the Amarnath Shrine Board. Large number of local residents defied curfew at several places in Jammu and burnt tyres in the middle of the road.

In Rajouri, Doda, Bhaderwah and Udhampur, protesters took out rallies and demanded removal of Governor NN Vohra.

Several local Congress leaders and former legislators too are joining the ongoing agitation in Jammu and have started demanding removal of the Governor.

Raising questions over banning transmission of local news channels, several local residents in Jammu and agitators dubbed it as a desperate attempt by the authorities to suppress the voice of the people. Agitators who reached hospital to enquire about the well being of mediapersons injured in the attack expressed their anger and alleged that the district administration had selectively attacked senior mediapersons in Jammu to gag the media.

Chief Secretary SS Kapur, however, clarified that the two channel operators were twice called by the administration and asked not to transmit the content that flared up passions and violence. He said they were advised to stick to the programme code as given in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. He said they were also issued notices under the law. However, he said the two channels continued to transmit highly objectionable and provocative material upon which the District Magistrate had ordered prohibition of transmission on these channels. Meanwhile, several social, religious and political organisations have also condemned police action on mediapersons.

At least 37 people were injured in Sunday clashes, according to PTI. SMS service of mobile operators was suspended in view of fast spreading rumours. Two Hindi dailies were also sealed.

Protesters came out in violation of curfew restrictions at Domana, Janipur, Muthi, Bantalab, Satwari, Gandhinagar, Gangyal, Bakshi Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Samba, Bari Brahamana, Canal Road in Jammu and Samba districts despite flag marches.

Over three companies of police swooped over the office of JK TV channel in Gandhinagar to force its closure following a Government notice. In a melee, 10 people, including two journalists and City SDPO Sawtanter Arora were injured. Four houses were burnt in RS Pura belt and four trucks damaged in stone pelting in Hiranagar.

At least 17 protesters were injured in other clashes, including some that took place overnight, with police in Gagwal, Lakhanpur, Bakshinagar and Shaktinagar areas of Jammu.

Twelve Army columns were deployed in Jammu, nine in Samba, five in Kathua and seven in Udhampur districts.

Late in the night, however, the Jammu district magistrate lifted the ban on transmission of local cable channel ending the 10-hour-long blackout across Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was taken by the DM after an assurance was given by the local cable channels that they would abide by Cable Television Networks (Regulation)Act 1995 and follow it in letter and spirit.

Take immediate steps, Rajnath tells Sonia

New Delhi: BJP president Rajnath Singh has told Congress president Sonia Gandhi that she must take steps to resolve the controversy over Amarnath land allotment issue. The Congress president had called upon the BJP counterpart seeking support of the latter to defuse tension in Jammu region. Sonia Gandhi wanted Rajnath Singh to pacify the protesters who are staging demonstration in the Jammu region for the past one month. In return, Rajnath Singh told Sonia that it was for the first time that Jammu is on the boil. He told the Congress president that the land allotment case has now become an emotive issue and the Government must take note of it. Rajnath told Sonia that his party was ready to extend any help to the Government in resolving the crisis, but it was the prime responsibility of the Government to take note of the concerns raised by the people of Jammu region.

He also demanded that the land plot which was allotted to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and taken away later is immediately returned to the board.

08-04-2008, 02:43 AM

News vid from Jammu on youtube

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=tH3GYS0pu00

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 08-04-2008, 01:05 PM by Bodhi.)

As the govt has blocked all TV mediamen from covering events in Jammu, there is a decline of news on TV. Some journalists beaten by police yesterday in Jammu. meanwhile, if situation in Jammu remains as it is, this week Kashmir will come to its knees, with all supplies being blocked.

QUOTE The protesters caught two police personnel, including an officer in front of the TV channel office, and beat them to the pulp. One of the victims was identified as deputy superintendent of police, S K Arora. They were rescued by the army deployed in the area. A correspondent of Aaj Tak, Ashwani Kumar, and a cameraman of NDTV, Darshan, were also injured in the incident.

A mob of over 3,000 people gathered in front of a TV channel office at Digiana and moved toward the local police post. Sensing trouble, the police resorted to baton charge, lobbed tear smoke shells and fired in the air. Later the army intervened and tried to defuse the situation. The protesters later sat on the road and held protest demonstrations for several hours.

However, according to reports from Samba, more than 5,000 people, including women and children, came out on the highway and blocked it for more than three hours. The army deployed on the road chase them away, but they refused to budge and demonstrated for several hours. After negotiations and talks between prominent citizens and the army, the protesters moved back to their places.
Defying curfew, hundreds of protesters took to streets at Satwari, Digiana, Gangyal, Gandhi Nagar, Kanjwani, Miran Sahib, Indira Nagar, Janipur, and other areas in the city and at Kathua. The protesters burnt the effigies of governor, N N Vohra, and theÂ Â National conference president, Omar Abdullah. The army watched the protests without interfering.

At Muthi and Bantalab, people in large numbers defied curfew and tried to stage demonstrations. However, the police and Rapid Action Force used force to disperse them. More than 100 teargas shells were fired by police on protesters.

QUOTESrinagar: In view of highway blockade by activists of Sangharish Samiti, the All Kashmir Butchers Union has urged the people to solemnize the marriage ceremonies with austerity. In a statement, the Union president, Haji Khazir Muhammad Regoo said hundreds of sheep laden trucks are stranded at Lakhanpur. âDue to shortage of meat, we urge the people to celebrate the marriage with austerity according to Shariat,â he said.

QUOTESrinagar, Aug 3: Kashmir valley is heading towards a fuel crisis, if the supply of petroleum products from Jammu does not resume immediately, a spokesman of the Kashmir Valley Tank Owners /Petroleum Dealers Association said here today.Â 

QUOTEJammu, Aug 3: After days of blockade by the activists of various extremist groups, army took the Madhupur-Udhampur sector of the highway under complete control Sunday to restore vehicular traffic to and from Kashmir. In spite of some isolated attempts at disruption of the traffic, hundreds of trucks carrying essential supplies and passenger buses proceeded to the valley.

Loudspeaker fitted army vehicles went round various areas to announce the enforcement of curfew and shoot-at-sight orders urging the people to remain indoors. âCurfew is in force and the people are appealed to stay put in their homes. Anyone coming out can be shot at,â the police announcement said.

The army had sealed all the link roads leading to the highway, particularly in the worst hit sectors, to prevent the protesters to come out for disrupting traffic. The army also carried out flag marches in the city and elsewhere in Udhampur and Samba. The vehicles carried white banners with appeals to the people to remain indoors. As a result, there was comparative calm in the city and elsewhere.

Following the stringent measures taken by the administration, vehicular traffic on the highway, the only surface link between the Kashmir valley and rest of the world, went on throughout the day. The trucks carrying Kashmir-bound supplies carried labels marked âOn Army Dutyâ were escorted by the army. Most of these trucks had been waiting for clearance in Pathankot district of neighbouring Punjab all these days.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com

QUOTEJammu strife muffles Valley business
Nazir Masoodi
Monday, August 04, 2008, (Baramulla)
It seems that the biggest victims of the unrest in Jammu are the small business owners and daily workers.

One of them are the Valley's fruit growers, who say that their livelihood has been severely affected by the ongoing strife in Jammu and desperate attempts are now being made to bring back some profits.

It has been a long wait for Ghulam Mohammad to take his pear-laden truck to Delhi's Azadpur Mandi.

Supporters of the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti have imposed an economic blockade targeting any truck carrying goods into or out of Kashmir. And fearing a backlash, Police are preventing trucks from moving forward.

"The police are saying that Kashmiri truckers wouldn't be allowed to proceed because they are being beaten along the highway. So I had to return from Lower Monda," said Ghulam Mohammad, driver.

Srinagar-Jammu highway is the only road link that connects Kashmir with the rest of India but after right wing political parties in Jammu declared a boycott of Kashmiri goods and began to enforce the economic blockade. Fruit growers in the Valley are now looking to take the Srinagar-Muzafarabad road to reach other places in India.

"We are compelled to take this step. But since fruits are perishable we will take it via Jhelum Valley road," Ghulam Rasool, fruitseller.

As the markets and the rout have succumbed to strife in Jammu, the Valley's fruit growers say they have been pushed to the wall and forced to use the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road to reach out to the market.



QUOTESonia speaks to Rajnath on Jammu protests
Indo-Asian News Service

Monday, August 04, 2008, (New Delhi)
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday night discussed with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh the situation in Jammu after violent protests over land for the Amarnath shrine board, Congress sources said.

Gandhi, who called up Singh over telephone, urged him to ask BJP cadre to help restore peace in Jammu and also not to politicise the issue, the party sources added.

http://www.kashmirherald.com/main.php?t=M&st=M

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 08-04-2008, 02:26 PM by Bodhi.)

Bodhi · 08-04-2008, 02:28 PM

Bodhi · 08-04-2008, 02:30 PM

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 08-04-2008, 02:53 PM by Bodhi.)

(more pics on previous page)

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080804/10/jmu3jkcd08-c-3-1_1217824263_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

In Jammu defying the army blockades and curfew as the people came out on the roads spontaneously, Ladies were seen shouting 'Jay Bhole Amarnath' from the rooftops.

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080804/10/jmu03udm7-c-4-1_1217824263_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Bodhi · 08-04-2008, 02:39 PM

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 08-04-2008, 04:30 PM by Bodhi.)

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080804/09/jmu3jaa-07-c-3-1_1217824177_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080804/10/jmu3jkcd01-1_1217824265_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

In Dingyana, protesters were seen waving the Indian Flag.

Government which comes to its knees seeing pakistani flags waving in Valley, continued its offensive on Jammu protesters. 4 protesters have so far died.

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 08-04-2008, 02:49 PM by Bodhi.)

Bodhi · 08-04-2008, 02:48 PM

Bodhi · 08-04-2008, 02:55 PM

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080804/10/jmu3jaa-02-c-3-1_1217824210_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Effigies of Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdulla Burnt.

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 08-04-2008, 04:32 PM by Bodhi.)

Bodhi · 08-04-2008, 03:29 PM

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080803/10/jmu02jkcd18-c-3-1_1217738710_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

House of PDP Ex-MLA Shanti Devi bore the brunt of angry protesters.

Bodhi · 08-04-2008, 03:31 PM

Bodhi · (This post was last modified: 08-04-2008, 03:34 PM by Bodhi.)

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080803/10/jmu02udm7-c-4-1_1217738723_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

People at a rally, hearing a local leader.

<img src='http://l.yimg.com/ki/epaper/jagran/20080803/10/jmu2kth4-c-2-1_1217738736_m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

police firing tear gas shells.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?