PM convenes all-party meet on Amarnath land row

As violence continued in the Kashmir valley, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh convened an all-party meet on Wednesday to find a solution to the raging Amarnath land transfer row.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Defence Minister A K Antony, National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed, CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury, Janta Dal-United President Sharad Yadav, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh and CPI leader A B Bardhan were among those who attended.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Jaswant Singh were also present in the meeting.

Earlier in the day, protesters defied curfew in Udhampur in Jammu region even as life in Kashmir valley remained paralysed for the third consecutive day following a strike call given by a separatist group.

One person was killed and 12 people were injured in pitched battles between police and protesters in Kathua town overnight as agitation on the land issue showed no signs of abating.