Jammu: Jammu entering the 35th day of complete shutdown on Tuesday witnessed sporadic incidents of violence as protestors clashed with the security forces in the city and its outskirts.
The Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SAYSS) is all set to organise a mass protest rally here on Wednesday in which thousands of people from the city and remote areas of different districts are likely to participate to lodge their protest against the administration for delaying the restoration of
land to the Shrine Board, say sources.
“Police resorted to lathicharge and fired teargas shells this afternoon to control the protesters in Digiana,’’ sources were quoted by a news agency as saying.
“The agitators also clashed with the security forces in Purani Mandi area in the heart of the city, forcing police to use teargas shells to disperse them,” adds the agency.
A fast food joint near the Parade ground was set on fire.
The protesters, however, threatened to carry out more violent agitations if the administration tried to stop them from participating in the rally at Parade Ground called by the Sangharsh Samiti, a conglomerate of 45 religious, social and political organisations, spearheading the movement demanding restoration of 40 hectares of land at Baltal back to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, sources maintain.
“We have appealed to the administration and the Central Government to refrain from interfering in our protests and not to stop us from attending a massive protest rally tomorrow evening. If they do so, the agitation will turn more aggressive,’’ says a Samiti protestor.
The Samiti has also said its leaders will hold talks with the Governor, only after its demands are met.
The district administration, meanwhile, lifted the curfew in Kathua town on Tuesday, a day after it was imposed following incidents of violence and subsequent clashes between police and demonstrators.
The City of Temples and its outskirt area, however, observed complete a ''shutdown'' for consecutive 35 days as the agitation entered into the 56th day paralysing normal life.
With inputs from agencies
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