Amarnath row: Curfew lifted in border areas

A day after the meeting between the all-party delegation and the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, curfew was on Sunday lifted in border districts of Poonch and Kathua and relaxed in Jammu, Samba, Rajouri and Udhampur.

Peaceful protests were, however, held in the region where people burnt tyres and effigies of Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra over the Amarnath row.

"The district administration has lifted curfew in border towns of Kathua and Poonch since 0600 hours on Sunday after four days of its imposition in view of betterment in law and order situation," police officers told PTI.

Authorities also relaxed curfew in Jammu, Samba, Udhampur and Rajouri districts and these passed off peacefully without any untoward incident, they said.

In Jammu and Samba district, where curfew continues for the 10th day on Sunday, it was relaxed for seven and five hours between 0500-1200 hours and 0500-1000 hours respectively.

In Udhampur and Rajouri, where curfew was imposed for the past seven days, was given curfew relaxation for two hours from 1100-1300 hours and 0700-0900 hours respectively.

"Curfew was re-imposed all these districts. Army also conducted flag marches in Jammu and Samba districts," they said.

The army has choked all road, lanes and by-lanes with barbed-wire fencing, turning Jammu city into a virtual battle field. Besides this, all entry and exits points are manned by army to maintain peace.

Reviewing the law and order and security situation in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had asked the state government to deal with the current situation with a balanced approach.

People took out peaceful rallies at scores of places in Jammu, Samba, Poonch, Kathua and Udhampur districts of Jammu region. They also burnt tyres and effigies of Governor N N Vohra and raised slogans against him.

"However, there were no violent clashes with police or army at any place. There were no violent protests. The situation is tense but under control," they said.

Meanwhile, 50 members of Rastriya Muslim Manch led by Jharkhand Shahee-Imam Moulana Hizb Rehman Merthi on a 'Aman Paigam yatra', which was stopped by the police at Lakhanpur, were allowed on Sunday.

Over 50 arrested activists of yatra, including women, were released and reached Jammu. They held meetings with SASS leadership at Geeta Bhawan on Sunday afternoon.

Criticising the administration for stopping them from meeting the Jammu and Kashmir leadership and carrying a message and appeal of peace to the people of the state, Moulana Merthi told the media, "It is unfortunate the administration and police had stopped us from entering J&K."