Jammu shutdown extended till Aug 14

JAMMU: The group spearheading the campaign for the restoration of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday called for extending  the general  shutdown of the Jammu region  till Aug14.

The Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh  Samiti (AYSS), a conglomerate of more than 30 Hindu groups, said Jammu will observe the shutdown for six more days (till Thursday).

Jammu since June 26  has been observing shutdowns, briefly interrupted for four days from July 18 to July 22. The region has also been reeling under curfews.

The necessity to "extend the shutdown was felt because the government is deaf and dumb" and has failed to hear the loud and clear sentiments of the people of Jammu for the return of the land, AYSS convenor Leela Karan Sharma told reporters.

The agitation was intensified after the government cancelled the May 26 land transfer order, allotting some 40 hectares of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, July 1 after massive protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley.