Now, the land row has engulfed Jammu

Even as its dying embers still singe Kashmir, the land row has engulfed Jammu 

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s gamble to buy peace have come a cropper. The decision to reverse the transfer of land to the Amarnath board has not only failed to snuff out the conflagration in Kashmir, with separatists declaring the protests will continue till the order is in writing, but managed to set Jammu ablaze.

Dozens of activists of BJP, VHP and other Sangh Parivar parties hit the streets of Jammu on Monday to protest the government’s decision to take back the 39.88 hectares of forestland and assume the reigns of the Amarnath yatra.

Protestors burnt effigies of PDP leaders and raised slogans against the government. They blocked the road at Lakhanpur, the entry point to J&K from New Delhi.

Jammu was also held ransom by a bandh called by the BJP and supported by the VHP and Kranti Dal. “The bandh was complete and everyone supported our call,” said Ashok Khajuria, state BJP chief.

In Kashmir, life remained paralysed for the eighth day on Monday. Shops and business establishments remained closed. Government offices and banks remained shut while ATMs have either been closed or run out of money.

A major procession was held in the old city area led by Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, with protestors chanting pro-freedom slogans.

Azad appealed the people to let peace prevail since the issue arising out of the government order diverting forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) had been resolved.
h_ishfaq@dnaindia.net