Source:
The Hindu New Delhi (PTI): Some Hindu organisations including Sri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, spearheading the agitation in Jammu, on Saturday held protests here, demanding return of land to the Amarnath shrine board.
Scores of demonstrators of the Samiti along with Vishwa Hindu Parishad held protest march threatening to intensify the agitation if their demands were not met immediately.
"We will take this matter to streets of the country till the alloted land is not restored to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB)," VHP national secretary Khem Chand said ...
Read more:
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200808022068.htm
http://www.thaindian.com.nyud.net:8090/newsportal/images/Amarnath%20Shrine-178230.jpgKashmir parties call for peace over Amarnath land row
August 2nd, 2008 - 12:38 pm ICT by IANS
... Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees every year visit the Amarnath cave shrine, a high altitude temple in south Kashmir devoted to Lord Shiva.
The state government May 26 had issued an order to transfer about 40 hectares of forest land in north Kashmir to the shrine board to house the pilgrims, triggering violent protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley ...
The order was revoked July 1 silencing the protests in Kashmir but igniting a wave of violent opposition in Hindu-majority Jammu, which is reeling under a series of shutdowns and curfews for over a month now ...
The PDP .... had demanded the pilgrimage be only a fortnight-long and the number of pilgrims be limited to save the fragile ecology of Kashmir forests. The National Conference too had voiced environmental concerns due to the increasing rush of pilgrims ...
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/amarnath-shrine-board-to-be-reconstituted_10078902.html Young Kashmiris taste triumph
Thousands rose up against a decision to set aside land for a Hindu shrine and got it rescinded.
By HENRY CHU, Los Angeles Times
Last update: August 2, 2008 - 5:57 PM
SRINAGAR, INDIA
The students at the University of Kashmir have freedom on their minds.
Not from the tyranny of exams and professors or of too-strict parents. What many young people here are dreaming of is freedom for their divided land, instead of being caught in the middle of a decades-old tug of war between India and Pakistan.
They got a taste of self-rule recently when thousands of residents rose up against a government decision to set aside forest land for use by Hindu pilgrims visiting a shrine here in India's only predominantly Muslim state, Jammu and Kashmir. The protests, in which at least six people were killed, were the biggest in years and forced not only an official reversal but the collapse of the state government this month.
It was a rare triumph of people power in the eyes of many Kashmiris, none more so than the youthful agitators in their teens and 20s who formed the majority of those chanting in the streets ...
http://www.startribune.com/world/26197524.html?location_refer=World:highlightModules:2Army called in curfew-bound Jammu
August 2nd, 2008 - 11:07 am ICT by ANI
Jammu/ Samba, Aug 2 (ANI): The Army was called last night in the Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir in order to ensure that no further violent protest takes place in the region. The past few days have witnessed angry protests by Hindus who are demanding transfer of land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board.
Meanwhile, curfew was re-imposed in Jammu after two persons were killed yesterday in Samba town as violence continued over the controversial cancellation of forestland allotted to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB).
Meanwhile, the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, a conglomerate of 35 political, social and religious organisations, fighting for the restoration of land to the SASB declared that its talks with the state Governor NN Vohra had failed ...
A group of protesters held demonstrations when <National Conference leader Farooq> Abdullah and <People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba> Mufti landed here and laid siege to the main road leading to the airport. Some of them set fire to the Panjthirti police station. Police fired teargas shells to disperse them. The administration then ordered immediate re-imposition of curfew in Jammu District. In Samba town, the police opened fire at the agitating mob, which ransacked the office of Deputy Commissioner of Samba District, resulting in the two deaths. Several agitators were injured in the incident. Four critically injured have been taken to Jammu ...
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/army-called-in-curfew-bound-jammu_10078953.htmlArmy carries out flag marches in Jammu, 13 hurt in clashes
Jammu (PTI): Army troops on Saturday marched through city streets in the curfew-bound Jammu and Samba districts as tense situation prevailed following violent protests over the Amarnath land controversy. At least 13 people were injured overnight when protesters demanding restoration of forest land to the Amarnath board burnt several offices and clashed with security forces.
Army personnel conducted flag marches and took positions in several sensitive areas as the curfew in both districts entered the second day on Saturday, official sources said. Two people were killed yesterday and several injured as angry Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti supporters clashed with police while trying to ransack the district magistrate's office in Samba.
The agitators defied curfew and also manhandled Deputy Commissioner Saruv Bhagat. They also set several offices on fire after talks between the Samiti and Governor N N Vohra failed. Reports of unrest also poured in from Hiranagar in Kathua district ...
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200808021653.htmFury over revocation of SASB land allotment continues
2 Aug, 2008, 2331 hrs IST, ANI
... The protesters had to brave the water cannon shots to give vent to their anger against the Central government, which they alleged is misleading people ...
Meanwhile .. Hindu leader Sadhvi Ritambhara, who was denied access to Jammu reacted strongly on the matter and said that measures taken by the government are authoritarian which can worsen the situation.
"We were stopped at the airport (in Jammu and Kashmir) and were compelled to go back. I think it's a breach of our democratic rights. Administration has responsibility to manage traditional affairs in a proper way. Resorting to repressive policies will further escalate already worsening condition," said Ritambhara.
Agitators have been demanding restoration of forestland allotted to the Board by the state government for making makeshift facilities for Amarnath pilgrims ...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Fury_over_revocation_of_SASB_land_allotment_continues/articleshow/3319463.cmsSunday, August 03, 2008
Economic blockade causes serious shortages in Kashmir
* 110 Kashmir-bound trucks carrying essential commodities stranded in Gurdaspur
* Geelani calls for shutdown on Monday
NEW DELHI: An economic blockade enforced by Hindu nationalists in Jammu has hit the supply of essential commodities in the Kashmir Valley and Muslim majority areas of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda regions of Jammu division. The Oil Tankers Association, led by a Shiv Sena leader, has blocked oil and gas supplies to these regions until the government withdraws an order revoking land transfer to the Hindu cave-shrine of Amarnath in the mountains of South Kashmir.
Kashmir, which had been the hub of road works connecting the South and Central Asian regions, was left with just one artery after partition in 1947 – the Jammu-Srinagar national highway – which often gets closed due to bad weather and landslides. Division Commissioner of Kashmir Asghar Samaun on Saturday said there was no need to panic. Officials, however, say the stocks of petrol, diesel and food grains have sharply decreased over the previous week. "There are now just 1.3 million litters of petrol, million litters of diesel both in the army and the civilian go-downs in the Kashmir Valley," a state government official told Daily Times. The civilian consumption of petrol and diesel is 0.1 million and 0.25 million litters respectively every day in the Kashmir Valley. The food grain situation is also quite dismal. Reports said that people have either curtailed or cancelled marriage functions. Officials said they have 2 million quintals of rice, 1.35 million tonnes of sugar and 0.94 million quintals of wheat to last a fortnight. Newspapers in Kashmir allege that Food Corporation of India (FCI), at the behest of Hindu nationalists, has stopped supplying food grains to the Kashmir Valley ...
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C08%5C03%5Cstory_3-8-2008_pg7_39
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