Jammu: A dispute over whether land transfer to the Amarnath Shrine Board has now become a full fledged crisis about the future of Kashmir in India. For the first time in over a decade, separatist slogans are being openly shouted out in Srinagar. The Government looks helpless and mainstream political parties too are divided on how to address the issue.
After weeks of massive separatist protests in Kashmir that virtually shut down the region, separatist leaders called for three days of calm, allowing schools and businesses to reopen.
But the peace was short-lived and violence was once again reported in some areas of Jammu on Thursday.
A mob attacked the car of senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister, Mangat Ram Sharma while he was on his way to the hospital in Bhagwati Nagar area for a general check up.
Though initially, the security guards were unable to bring him out of the vehicle, a guard on a motorcycle saved Sharma, who took a ride on his bike to escape the mob.
The word of the Congress leader's presence brought more crowds who damaged cars parked in the area and set on fire some vehicles.
Sharma was the Health and Medical Education Minister in the Ghulam Nabi Azad government, which on July 1, cancelled the allotment of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), triggering violent protests in Jammu region.
The police had to fire tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Meanwhile, the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti is holding a protest rally on Thursday.
They have called on people to start a civil disobedience movement where they will not pay any state taxes. There have been violent protests all over the city and people in large numbers, including children, came out on to the streets to protest.
Hundreds of people are out on streets protesting paying no heed to the curfew, which was relaxed from 0500 hrs IST to 2000 hrs IST after after over 50 people were injured in clashes that saw several police posts and vehicles damaged and government buildings attacked on Wednesday.
"There was need to impose curfew on Wednesday because the Jammu agitators had threatened to bring children on the streets," an official was quoted by a news agency as saying.
Police and paramilitary forces have taken vantage positions to keep a watch on the situation, the official said.
National Security Adviser M K Naryananan, who had reviewed the situation in the state in Srinagar on Wednesday, had voiced his concern over the law and order situation in the region.
In Jammu, the nearly two-month-long agitation with consecutive days of shutdowns has left 12 people dead, more than 1,000 injured and massive economic losses.The Root Cause
The genesis of the trouble lies in the Jammu and Kashmir government's decision in May to allot 40 hectares of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that manages the annual pilgrimage to the high altitude shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. The decision led to massive protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley. Its revocation July 1 ignited a counter agitation in the Hindu majority Jammu region.
Shutdowns, curfew and violent clashes have polarised Jammu against Kashmir and led to about 40 deaths in the state. Protests over the Amarnath land row have been held in several other states too.
The genesis of the trouble lies in the Jammu and Kashmir government's decision in May to allot 40 hectares of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that manages the annual pilgrimage to the high altitude shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva.
The decision led to massive protests in the Kashmir valley. Its revocation on July 1 ignited a counter agitation in the Jammu region.
The trouble has continued to snowball since with shutdowns, curfew and violent clashes that have polarised Jammu against Kashmir.
The death toll in the state in the waves of protests and counter-protests now stands at around 40.(With inputs from agencies)
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