Shutdown observed in Jammu over Amarnath land row

The Jammu region had to observe a shutdown on Wednesday on account of the protest by the activists of the Hindu group over the issue of handing over a plot of land to the Amarnath Shrine Trust.

The controversy is upon the cancellation of the land transfer of the 40 hectares of forestland in Singh's range to Shree Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB).

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The bandh was called by Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (AYSS) and was widely supported by political parties like BJP and VHP.

The protestors burnt tyres and harmed many public and private vehicles and called out slogans and blocked the Jammu-Srinagar Highway at Nagrota. They demanded that Governor N N Vohra should be recalled.

Normal life was much affected by the bandh at such a short notice as many shops, educational institutes, offices and factories remained closed and the transport movement came to a standstill.

As per the sources, the protestors included activities of BJP, Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and other organisations who blocked the Tawi bridge for several hours shouting slogans against Vohra, PDP and pro-freedom leaders.

However, no loss of life or any serious damage is reported till now and the Jammu-Srinagar highway did not observe any kind of protest. AYSS chairman Leela Karan further assured that it was a peaceful shutdown not meant to harm anyone, but only to register people's resentment against the government.

The AYSS is an umbrella group of 28 social and political outfits demanding the plot to be returned to the SASB. The controversial land in north Kashmir’s Baltal area was taken back by the state government on July 1 after the state cabinet rescinded the allotment on May 26.