By IRNA,
Srinagar : A multi party grouping of various Hindu organizations in Jammu district ended their two month long violent agitation after government agreed to allow them temporary use of land for yatra period in Kashmir valley.
An agreement was reached with the state government giving Amarnath Shrine Board, a Hindu trust, exclusive rights to use 100 acres of forest land in the Kashmir valley during the annual pilgrimage for temporary shelters and toilets.
“The core issue has been agreed upon, so we are suspending the agitation for now. The shrine board will exclusively use the land during the Amarnath pilgrimage,” said leader of Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, group spearheading the agitation, Leela Karan Sharma in Jammu city.
Sharma described the agreement as the “victory of the people of Jammu” as Hindus celebrated by dancing on the streets, distributing sweets and bursting firecrackers.
But soon after the announcement, authorities clamped a curfew in the Jammu city, apparently to contain the celebrations, fearing this might hurt the sentiments of Muslims elsewhere in Kashmir. Official sources however claimed the government had inputs that Muslim militants were planning attacks on those celebrating the ‘victory’.
Muslims in Kashmir have been opposing government moves to divert forest land for the construction of facilities for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, fearing that might endanger the delicate eco-balance in the area. They have since risen in revolt against the Indian rule demanding implementation of UN resolutions which call for a referendum to decide the future status of Kashmir.
The current crisis began when Congress party led state government announced in June it would transfer the forest land to the Hindu trust.
The allotment was cancelled in July following mass uprising in Kashmir. This in turn angered Hindus in Jammu who blocked the only road link connecting Kashmir to India. The blockade which stopped supplies of food and medicine into Kashmir also re-ignited unprecedented protests in Kashmir and demands for reopening of traditional trade routes to rest of the World that have remained blocked since dispute over Kashmir began in 1947.
To control the rising tide of demonstrations authorities launched a crackdown arresting key leaders, clamped curfew and killed at least 40 people who defied restrictions.
The United Nations last week called for a thorough and independent investigation into the killings urging Indian security forces to observe international principles when dealing with demonstrators. But the Indian government dismissed the UN’s comments as “unwarranted” and “irresponsible.”