By IANS,
Jammu : Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti (SASS) Sunday paid homage to the people who were killed during the two-month long Jammu agitation for return of a plot of land to a Hindu temple trust in the Kashmir Valley.
Twelve people were killed during the agitation in Jammu, which was sparked off when the state government rescinded its the May 26 land allotment order awarding 40 hectares of forest land for use during the annual pilgrimage to Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The SASS – a conglomerate of over 30 political, social, religious and business organisations – spearheaded the Jammu agitation for the restoration of the land to the Shri Amaranth Shrine Board (SASB), which manages the annual pilgrimage. The state government restored the order Aug 31.
Hundreds of SASS supporters Sunday gathered in a school ground here to pay homage to those killed during the agitation.
The SASS paid Rs.400,000 to the next of kin of each killed during the agitation and awarded them citations “for act of bravery”.
SASS convenor Leela Karan Sharma said: “The task before us now is to fight against the discrimination with Jammu region by Kashmiri rulers.”