Normalcy returns to Jammu after agreement on Amarnath land row

Jammu, Sep 1 : With the opening of market places and the movement of traffic on roads on Monday, normalcy has returned to the Jammu region.

This development is being attributed to an agreement between the Jammu and Kashmir Government and the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti (SASS), to allow pilgrims to the cave shrine to stay on land that was the centre of a controversy for over two months.

According to official sources, all market places, government offices, schools, banks and universities have reopened and traffic is plying on the roads as usual.

Shopkeepers cleaned their shops and reopened them in Raghunath Bazar, Residency Road, Purani Mandi and Jain Bazar areas of the old city. Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) employees cleaned the city, which was littered with spent tear-gas shells, partially burnt tyres and effigies during the agitation. Curfew was lifted in Jammu, Samba, Udhampur, Kathua and Reasi last night. Following which all temporary barricades and barbed wire fencing have been removed. The CRPF and the police are continuing to maintain a close vigil in these areas.

Meanwhile, curfew remains clamped in the nine districts of the Kashmir Valley while it was relaxed in Bandipora and Handwara town of Kupwara.

The curfew, which had been relaxed in a phased manner over the past few days across the Valley, was reimposed on Sunday following sporadic incidents of violence over varied issues, including the Amarnath accord, official sources said.

"The curfew restrictions would be relaxed only after careful assessment about the law and order situation by the District Magistrates concerned," the sources added.

Nine persons were injured in the violence in parts of Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara districts as police fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas shells to disperse mobs, which also protested the arrest of separatist leaders and alleged high-handedness of the security forces.

The coordination committee of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conferene has called for peaceful protests today.

ANI