By IANS,
New Delhi : Accusing the ruling Congress party of “being one with fundamentalists”, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday called for a nationwide strike Thursday over the Jammu and Kashmir government’s order cancelling land allotment to Amarnath shrine authorities.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh alleged that the state government’s decision to revoke the allotment of 40-hectare forest land to the Shree Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) for development of facilities for pilgrims was a “complete surrender to the fundamentalist and separatist forces”.
“By revoking the allotment of this land, the Congress party has demonstrated that it is one with the fundamentalists in creating a theocratic environment in the Kashmir valley,” the party alleged in a statement here.
“The BJP calls for a nationwide strike on July 3 to protest against this monstrous act of revoking the allotted land to the shrine board,” the statement said.
Singh also said that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was “responsible” for the chaos Jammu and Kashmir was witnessing over the land row.
There were violent protests in the Valley during the past week after the government decided to hand over the forest land for the SASB and there were angry demonstrations in Jammu after the state government cancelled the land allotment.
On Saturday, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) pulled out of the Congress-led coalition government in the state, protesting the land allotment.
“Today democracy, secularism and civility are under serious threat in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a result of the Congress approach and policies since independence that the Hindu minority has been thrown out of the Valley,” the BJP said.
The radical group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which also called for a countrywide shutdown on the same day, announced it would launch a phased agitation till the Jammu and Kashmir government gave the land back to the SASB.