RAF sent to pacify Jammu

BY YUSUF JAMEEL

Srinagar

July 3: For the first time in the troubled history of Jammu and Kashmir, the elite anti-riot Rapid Action Force (RAF) has been asked to step in as the violent protests in winter capital Jammu and its neighbourhood over the Amarnath land row have not only spread to new areas but also fashioned into communal frenzy at certain places.

On Thursday about four companies (around 400 men) of the RAF requisitioned from Delhi were along with the paramilitary reinforcements fanned out in Jammu. Also, the authorities have sought help from the Army which, in fact, is already staging flag marches and assisting the law enforcement agencies towards tackling the otherwise deteriorating situation, including Kathua and Samba districts.

The officials indicated that more companies of the RAF are being requisitioned in anticipation of further violence taking place in coming days. An amalgam of Jammu-based saffron parties spearheading the agitation has announced a 72-hour extension in the ‘Jammu bandh’ and holding of protests against the state government’s decision to take over the logistics for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage and its revoking the diversion of about 40 hectares of forestland to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) for raising a prefabricated infrastructure including lavatories for the pilgrims at a base-camp issued earlier. Indefinite curfew remained in force in entire the Jammu city and its periphery and also in the towns of Bhaderwah and Samba for the second consecutive day on Thursday. However, the police and CRPF personnel had a tough time dealing with surging crowds which, while mocking the curfew restrictions, chose to hurl rocks and other missiles on them. Shiv Sena activists, officials said, torched a police vehicle in Bantalab area and also attacked the house of local Hurriyat Conference leader comrade S.D. Sharma in the city’s Nanak Nagar locality while he was addressing a press conference. The police lobbed tear smoke and cane-charged the irate mobs at half a dozen places in Jammu, including Roop Nagar, Sidhra, Gangyal and Bantalab.

Elsewhere, the unruly crowds not only fought pitched-battles with the police along the streets but also damaged both public and private properties. More than 30 people were injured in fresh clashes, officials said. Independent sources put the number of injured twice as high. As the violence spread to new areas outside the winter capital, irate mobs attacked the office of the district magistrate in Kathua. Several stationary vehicles were also damaged and attempts were made to disrupt rail traffic. More than 50 protesters were arrested by the police following attempts to disrupt rail traffic on the Jammu-Jallandhar section. Also, road blockages on Jammu-Pathankot highway were put up by irate crowds. As the situation took a worse turn beyond the control of the police, the authorities called in the Army which staged a flag march.

What has alarmed authorities is that the houses and other property of Muslims, mainly nomadic Gujjars, have come under attacks during the past two days. A number of shacks of Gujjars were set ablaze in Samba and Kathua districts besides other areas of the region, officials confirmed.

The Gujjar parties and leaders have urged the government to immediately seek deployment of the Army in the affected areas. "The Gujjar Muslims feel insecure. Besides deploying the Army, the civil society must be involved toward reducing tensions," said Chaudhary Ishfaq-ur-Rehman Poswal, state president of Akhil Bharatiya Gujjar Maha Sabha.