Judicial inquiry ordered into Kishtwar violence

Jammu/Srinagar, Aug 12: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister

on Monday said the state government has decided to order a

into the communal clashes in Kishtwar district that left two persons dead and 20 others injured.

"In order to establish the truth behind the Kishtwar violence and what followed, the State Government has decided to order a Judicial inquiry," Omar wrote on micro-blogging site twitter.com.

The Chief Minister said the inquiry will be held by a retired judge of the High Court and its outcome will be made public. "The inquiry will be held by a retired High Court judge in a time-bound manner to establish the facts and share them publicly," he said.

The decision was taken at a high-level ministerial meeting chaired by the Chief Minister in Jammu today. Communal clashes broke out in Kishtwar area of Jammu province on Eid day which later spread to other parts of the region including Jammu city and Rajouri town.

The state government has imposed curfew and prohibitory orders on movement of people in most parts of the Jammu region including Kathua and Doda districts.

Earlier, the state government had ordered an inquiry by the Divisional Commissioner in to the incident and promised severe punishment to those found responsible for death and destruction in Kishtwar.

Omar had yesterday accused BJP of trying to flare up violence in the state and appealed to people not to allow any political party to exploit their sentiments.

Omar said some political parties were trying to fuel Omar said some political parties were trying to fuel clashes with an eye on next year's Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections.

"My earnest appeal to people is please do not allow these political parties, who are putting political interest above human interest, to exploit your sentiments, to exploit the situation," he had said. The Chief Minister, while assuring that justice will be done, had urged people to dismiss rumours about the situation in Kishtwar and other affected areas.

"Please dismiss rumours because there are a lot of rumours floating around today. All I would appeal to you is to cooperate with the administration. We will restore order and we will ensure that justice is done," he had said. "Their entire aim seems to be to recreate the conditions of 2008 (Amarnath land row agitation) so that they can exploit it in the subsequent parliament (polls) and then the assembly election.

So, rather than appeal to political parties, which I know will fall on deaf ears, I am using the channels of the media to appeal to the people of Jammu and Kashmir not to fall prey to rumours," he had said.

The Chief Minister had said his government will do everything to address the concerns of the people about the Kishtwar incident. "I want to assure the people that we would do everything necessary to ensure that this trouble does not spread to other parts of state.

We will also do everything necessary to restore calm and maintain calm in Kishtwar and surrounding areas," he had said.

PTI