Day curfew withdrawn in districts of Jammu and Udhampur

Jammu, Aug 21 : Day curfew was withdrawn, today in districts of Jammu, Udhampur and relaxed for varying periods in areas of Jammu province, affected with protests over the Amarnath land row.

Curfew has been lifted from 5 am to 8 pm in Jammu and from 5a.m to 10p.m in Udhampur district today, said official sources.

A three-hour curfew relaxation from 9:30 am has been given by authorities in Kishtwar town, which witnessed communal clashes on August 12.

A relaxation in curfew has also been given for 11 hours from 5 am, in Samba town

Sri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SASS) convenor Leela Karan Sharma hadalleged that Governor N N Vohra's support to activities in Kashmir had diverted attention of the national and international community from demand of Jammu people.

The Samiti has given its programme of agitation from Thursday to August 25 and called for civil disobedience against the state government.

Government is thinking of constituting a group comprising of eminent person like former Chief Justice A S Anand to act as interlocutors to diffuse the Amarnath issue.

The Congress-led coalition at the Centre is not happy with ways of BJP in this issue and is also concerned over attempts in the valley to change the "agenda" while protesting over the Amarnath issue.

"We are not blaming them, but neither are we giving it a clean chit," said sources acquainted with the issue.

The sources said that several private persons including religious leaders are trying to find a way out of the impasse.

"The government, favours a dialogue as it feels that any attempts to inflame passions both in the valley as also in Jammu would have a negative impact on the country with Pakistan seeking to take undue advantage," said sources.

The move to constitute the group comes after visit of the all party delegation to Jammu, Srinagar and the discussions held with groups including the Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti and political parties in Srinagar.

ANI