By IANS,
Gandhinagar : The Gujarat unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said it would stage rallies here Aug 11-13 to protest the central government’s “indifference” to the ongoing Amarnath land row in Jammu and Kashmir and the resultant violence in the state.
BJP workers from across the state will participate in the rallies and a memorandum will be handed over to Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma on the Amarnath land issue, said BJP spokesperson I.K. Jadeja.
He said that tension continued to prevail in Jammu solely because of the central government mishandling the issue.
Hindu groups in Jammu region have been demanding the restoration of 40 hectares of land that was allotted to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) – the governing body of the shrine in the Kashmir valley – before the order was withdrawn July 1 following violent protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley.
But the revocation upset the Hindu-majority Jammu region, which has been witnessing continuous shutdowns and violent stirs for over a month now. At least 14 people have been killed in the state over the issue.
An all-party meet was held over the issue in New Delhi Wednesday evening that was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In a joint statement, the parties appealed for restoration of peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jadeja also criticised the government for not providing enough evidence against the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to a Delhi tribunal, which lifted the ban on the outfit Tuesday.
“It is shocking that the ban on an organisation like SIMI should have been lifted for lack of proper evidence. This has led to a sense of anxiety in the country,” he said.
The Supreme Court Wednesday restored the central government’s curbs on SIMI.