By IANS,
Srinagar : The coordination committee of separatist Hurriyat Conference factions Sunday rejected the agreement reached between the government and Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti on use of land by the managment of the Amarnath cave shrine for pilgrim facilities.
“We outrightly reject the agreement reached between the government and the Sangarsh Samiti,” said spokesman of the Hurriyat coordination committee Masarat Alam.
Masarat Alam, who is a close lieutenant of the hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, said the separatist march to city centre Lal Chowk had not been called off.
“Peaceful protests will continue Monday across the valley. On Tuesday and Wednesday businesses and traffic will remain open up to 4 p.m. The march to Lal Chowk has not been called off. We shall announce future programme Thursday,” Alam said.
The four-member official panel headed by the governor’s advisor S.S. Bleoria and the representatives of the Sangarsh samiti announced an agreement Sunday morning in winter capital Jammu city.
As per the terms of the agreement, 40 hectares of forest land would be set aside by the state government in the north Kashmir Baltal area for exclusive use by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) for creating facilities for the pilgrims during the Yatra period without any change in the ownership/title of the land. The state forest department will continue to own the land.
Sunday’s agreement has ended the over two-month long agitation in the Jammu region for restoration of land to the SASB.