4 die in violence during ‘Bharat bandh’

BJP says it will continue its agitation till its demand for the transfer of land to the board is met

NEW DELHI: Violence marred the ‘Bharat bandh’ called by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to protest against the non-transfer of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board. Four died in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, where agitators set cars and buses ablaze and clashed with the police.

The BJP said it would continue its agitation till its demand for the transfer of land to the board was met. Protest rallies are being planned in various state and district capitals from July 4 to 11. Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said: “Nearly half of Jammu and Kashmir is occupied by Pakistan and huge chunks have been grabbed by China. What is the problem with giving a few acres of land to the Shrine Board?”

Bill boards outside the party’s central office said that “100 crore Hindustanis will not beg for 100 acres of land” and “BJP will not tolerate insult to devotees of Lord Shiva.”

The response to the ‘bandh’ call was partial in most states with shops in some areas voluntarily downing shutters, while in others groups of BJP workers forced them to shut down. Train services were affected in several places.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Shatabdi Express was stopped at Agra Cantonment, the Ahmedabad-Varanasi Sabarmati Express at Orai and the Howrah-Dehradun Express at Mughalsarai, each for a few minutes. More than 50 BJP workers were arrested in and around Lucknow, while in Delhi senior BJP leaders, including Venkaiah Naidu, participated in the protests.

In West Bengal, the ‘bandh’ had little impact, but in Kerala the State-run transport services were partially withdrawn after incidents of stone pelting and in several places protesters blocked highways.

In Karnataka, the response was mixed – while in Bangalore life remained near normal with schools and business offices open as usual, in some districts of Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Udupi and Mysore, bus services came to a halt and business activities shut down. No major untoward incidents were reported barring stone pelting in a few places.

In Maharashtra, VHP supporters reportedly halted traffic on some major roads in North Mumbai causing traffic snarls and delaying office-goers. The police later dispersed the protesters.

Normal life was affected in parts of Punjab with the police using their canes to disperse crowds. Road and train traffic was affected in Ludhiana and Bhatinda and in Ambala protesters burnt effigies.

In Gujarat, a BJP-ruled state, life was near normal. Mr. Javadekar said the State would register its protest another day as Jagannath yatras were being taken out at 21 places on Thursday.

Fresh violence
Jammu Staff Reporter writes:

There was no let-up in the violent scenes and blood-letting in Jammu on Thursday.
Sixty five people, including a large number of police personnel, were injured in fresh protests against the cancellation of the order transferring land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board. Army carried out flag marches in curfew bound areas.

Protesters continued to defy the indefinite curfew orders in several areas. Police personnel who tried to implement the curfew earned the wrath of the protesters.

Kathua district, the gateway to the State, was the scene of massive protests. Protesters attacked the vehicles of districts officers. In Lakhanpur town of Kathua district — which borders Madopur area of Punjab — demonstrators set ablaze a toll post where entry tax on goods is collected. In the same district, a police post was also burnt.

On a request from the district administration, the Army carried out a flag march in Kathua town. Rail traffic was also affected in Kathua. Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar road was blocked, as protesters gathered at Samba, Udhampur and Nagrota.

There were fresh attacks on the properties of Congress leaders. Congress leader Mula Ram’s house was attacked. But the police posted there managed to disperse the crowd.

Around ten police personnel were injured in a number of places in Jammu city when they tried to disperse crowds of protesters. Mobs attacked a police party in sector 2 of Durga Nagar.

A few Congress activists of the region joined the protests on Thursday. Jai Singh, a Municipal corporator belonging to the Congress, came out with scores of his supporters defying curfew orders.

A group of social activists, lawyers , political leaders and academicians issued a joint appeal to the people and the leaders of the agitation to realise that the secular tradition and identity of Jammu was its real strength, which one cannot afford to weaken. source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/04/stories/2008070456431200.htm