Curfew relaxed in Jammu, region still tense

Jammu: Curfew was relaxed in Jammu for three hours on Monday morning after three days.

It had been clamped on Friday following violent clashes over the Amarnath land row that killed two people.

But the restrictions continue in other towns of the region, Samba, Rajouri, Udhampur and Bhaderwah, where Indian Army troops have been staging flag marches to main peace and order. There was a fear of communal violence in these areas.

The Army staged flag marches in these towns, but that didn’t deter people from holding demonstrations and demanding the land taken back from the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) be returned to it for providing facilities to Hindu pilgrims.

A senior official told IANS that the situation was threatening to take a communal turn as miscreants were trying to take advantage of it.

"The government will not allow the situation to become communal. The curfew and flag marches are to keep the troublemakers away," the official said.

Despite the heavy presence of army, mobs displaying pictures of Lord Shiva and the Indian tricolour marched on the streets shouting slogans against the police and Governor N N Vohra.

Protesters in Jammu have been agitating for the past over one month for the restoration of 40 hectares of forest land in north Kashmir to the SASB that was given to the shrine board on May 26 and then withdrawn July 1.

The agitation had affected traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway but more than 600 trucks of commodity supplies reached the Kashmir Valley as the security forces guarded the highway.

The government on Sunday lifted the ban on two Jammu-based TV channels following an agreement with their managements. Authorities had earlier sealed the premises of the two TV channels, Take 1 and JK Channel, saying they were broadcasting "provocative material" that "incited passions of people".

Congress reaches out to BJP

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday called on her BJP counterpart Rajnath Singh seeking his party's cooperation in bringing the situation back to normalcy in Jammu region.

BJP sources confirmed Gandhi calling Mr Singh but gave out very little information about the talks between the two leaders. Gandhi's call to the BJP President comes after a meeting between Leader of the Opposition L K Advani and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently where the Amnarnath issue figured prominently.

(With inputs from IANS and UNI)