Author: Mohit Kandhari
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: August 2, 2008
Firing follows curfew as protests escalate
Curfew was reimposed in two districts of Jammu
region on Friday as the agitation by the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti intensified
resulting in injuries to 35 activists of the samiti and a few policemen.
Protesters torched a police post near Raj
Bhawan in Panjthirthi area and police opened fire on the activists protesting
on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway in Samba. Two protesters were killed
and eight injured as police opened firing to quell the protests by the agitators
in Samba district. The condition of two of the injured is stated to be critical.
Governor NN Vohra was holding an all-party
meeting inside Raj Bhawan when the protesters defied curfew and attempted
to gherao the Raj Bhawan. National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah and PDP
chief Mehbooba Mufti were trapped inside the Jammu Airport for over two hours
as thousands of activists blocked its exit.
Six persons, critically wounded in the Samba
firing, were rushed to the Jammu Medical College Hospital. Army was called
in after the mob tried to attack the residence of the Deputy Commissioner
(Samba). The agitators also tried to attack the house of Mufti Mohd Sayeed
in the New Plot area on Friday evening and clashed with police. The police
had to fire in the air and use teargas shells to disperse the protesters.
The situation turned ugly when thousands of
Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti activists converged near the Jammu Airport
to prevent Dr Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti from entering Jammu, which was witnessing
the ninth day of bandh. The protesters, including women and children, reached
the airport on tractor trolleys. Holding saffron flags and banners targeting
Kashmiri leaders, they blocked the road outside the airport for over two hours.
The anxious leaders had to spend two hours inside the VIP room before the
State police chief could escort them to Raj Bhawan amid tight security.
The two leaders, in Jammu to participate in
the all-party meeting called by the Governor, declined to board a helicopter
to reach Raj Bhawan in view of the prevailing situation. Mehbooba Mufti attended
the meeting as sole representative of the PDP as the other party leaders could
not join her due to the tense situation in the Old City.
The Sangarsh Samiti activists had also blocked
at several points all roads leading to Raj Bhawan by burning tyres in the
middle of the road. Sensing more trouble, the district authorities imposed
curfew in the entire Jammu district before the scheduled meeting at Raj Bhawan.
As the locals pelted stones and empty bottles
on policemen from rooftops, police used heavy teargas shelling to disperse
the protesters. With stones being pelted in the Old City till late in the
day, the situation there was tense.
Official sources said the Governor on Friday
proposed re-constitution of the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board and appealed to
eminent citizens in Jammu to try and defuse the volatile situation. The Governor
made it clear that after the board was reconstituted, the State Government
would not meddle with its affairs, the sources added.
Meanwhile, reacting to the Governor's proposed
move, State BJP vice-president Hari Om said that the move to reconstitute
the shrine board was nothing but another attempt to hoodwink the people of
Jammu.
