By IANS,
Jammu : The Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, leading an agitation in Jammu for land to the Amarnath shrine management, described as “drama” the all-party meet called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday.
“It was a theatre of absurd,” Samiti convenor Leela Karan Sharma told reporters.
He said that though he was not aware of the exact contents of the joint statement issued after the meet – to which his conglomerate was not invited – yet it appeared that “the government has shown its extreme indifference to the people of Jammu and their demand for the return of the land to the shrine board”.
Regarding a proposal that an all-party delegation may visit Jammu, he said: “Let there be several delegations or all-party meetings, the basic issue of land return needs to be settled before any follow-up action.”
Meanwhile, violence in Jammu region escalated following the killing of a youth in firing in Palli Morh in Kathua and frequent clashes between protesters and police in Nagrota, Akhnoor and some parts of this winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
The police also fired in air in Vijaypur where people laid a siege around the house of former minister Manjit Singh of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to disperse the mob. But the protesters stoned the house before fleeing.
The samiti and protesters have been demanding withdrawal of the state government order revoking allotment of land to the shrine board for pilgrim facilities.