New Delhi: One person was shot dead and 15 injured in fresh clashes after thousands took to the streets on Monday across Kashmir against a police crackdown on the march to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) by the Hurriyat and fruit growers.
Political and religious leaders, traders and fruit growers had been preparing to take a convoy of fruit-laden trucks from Kashmir towards Muzaffarabad in a bid to counter the "economic blockade" of the Valley due to the ongoing Amarnath land row.
Fruit mandis have been sealed and trucks laden with fruit have been either seized or their tyres deflated by security forces. There was a massive security crackdown on the protestors with movement on the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad road completely blocked.
A day ahead of the 'Muzaffarabad challo' programme, Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq was placed under house arrest on Sunday.
"Police sealed my house at Nigeen as well as Mirwaiz Manzil at Rajouri Kadal where a meeting of coordination committee was going on regarding 'Muzaffarabad challo' programme," Mirwaiz told PTI.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir lifted curfew from Kathua and Bhaderwah districts and relaxed curfew in other towns after violent protests over the Amarnath land row abated in the region.
For the first time over the past one week, authorities decided to relax curfew for 11 hours from 0500 hours IST to 1600 hours IST on Monday. In Samba, it was relaxed for six hours.
Demonstrations demanding allocation of forestland in Kashmir to the management board of the Amarnath cave shrine continued on Sunday but no untoward incident was reported, officials said.
The authorities also lifted curfew in Bhaderwah and Kathua districst following an "improvement in the situation".
However, shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed on Monday, as the shutdown call by the Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti (SASS) has been extended to Thursday.
"We will continue to support the agitation as long as it takes to get our demand for the restoration of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board fulfilled," said Bishan Dass, a shopkeeper in Gandhi Nagar area here. He said he had not opened his shop since the agitation began in Jammu over 40 days ago.
"Let it take any amount of time, we will continue our stir till something positive emerges," said Joginder Singh, a college student.
Several thousand Indian Army personnel have been deployed all across Jammu to control the situation, which had worsened after the more than five-week-long violent stir, over the land transfer to the temple board and its subsequent revocation created an unprecedented communal wedge in the state.
The Army was called out after violent protesters blocked traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway - the only motorable road link to the Valley - disrupting supply of essential commodities to Kashmir.
(With inputs from IANS)
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