Borrowing another page from the Israeli play-book, it appears that Hindu terrorists in Jammu are trying to get their way by enforcing a economic blockade along the only roads connecting Kashmir to India…evidently with the full support of local police (no big surprise there).
Perhaps some good will come of it…as agitation for the reopening of the Muzaffarabad/Rawalpindi highway is rapidly increasing.
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Fanatic Mobs Rule Highway **
Srinagar, July 31, KONS: Violent mobs held up Kashmiri goods carriers and taxis at various places along the Jammu-Srinagar highway this morning, looting and smashing the vehicles and beating the drivers and passengers mercilessly.
In Srinagar hundreds of Kashmiri drivers staged angry protests in Lal Chowk against the attacks on their colleagues by Hindu communalists in Jammu and Udhampur.
Reports said that violent mobs held up Kashmiri goods carriers and taxis in Udhampur this morning, looting and smashing the vehicles and beating the drivers and passengers mercilessly.
Six Sumo taxis were stopped in Udhampur, and activists of the BJP and the Shiv Sena, beating up nine occupants, including two women, of one of the vehicles, whose driver, Sartaj Ahmad, was left with a broken arm by the violent mob.
The miscreants then smashed the windowpanes of all the six vehicles, reports said.
Similar incidents were witnessed in Ramban, Kathua, Samba, Batote, Kud and several other places.
The injured driver, Sartaj Ahmad, who was among the protestors today, said that the Jammu police was present on the scene when their vehicles were attacked, but took no steps to rescue them.
A truck driver, Ghulam Muhammad Ganai of Tapar, Pattan, told the KNS on phone from Udhampur, that he and his fellow drivers were trying to proceed towards Jammu for the past four days but were not being allowed to move forward by Hindu fanatics.
He said that fanatic mobs stopped a truck (JK05 4647) this morning, pulled the driver down and gave him a severe thrashing after looting his vehicle and setting it ablaze.
Drivers stranded in Kathua and Samba had similar tales to tell, saying that Hindu fanatics were targeting Kashmiri drivers with violence.
According to reports, the trucks that were attacked, damaged and sought to be torched included those bearing the following registration markings: JK05A 8795, JK05A 1988, JK05A 6959, and JK05D 0830.
This morning, hundreds of truck drivers assembled in the press enclave and marched through various parts of the central city, alleging that the police was being a mute spectator as Sangh Parivar rioters targeted vehicles and passengers in Jammu and Udhampur.
A protesting driver from the lower city said that yesterday he had been dragged out of his Sumo Taxi by Hindu rioters in Udhampur, and beaten up and his vehicle damaged.
Another driver from Kupwara said that the fanatic mobs are so frustrated that they fly into a rage at the mere mention of the word Kashmir and start attacking and beating up people.
“The irony is that the police and the administration takes no action against the attackers, proving that the violence has official backing,” he said.
The economic blockade of Kashmir announced by the BJP and its allies has snapped the only supply line to the valley, raising the prospect of serious shortages of petrol, diesel and food-grains in the coming days.
Riotous mobs in Jammu prevented any goods carriers to enter Kashmir since Wednesday, leaving hundreds of supply-laden trucks stranded on the far side of the Jawahar tunnel.
The situation over the shrine board issue has taken a serious turn in Jammu as several parts of the city remain under curfew, with the BJP and its communal cohorts adopting a hostile stance against the state governor, and political parties, including the Hurriyat Conference, National Conference and the PDP.
The VHP-Bajrangdal led communal conglomerate has launched a Quit Jammu campaign against Kashmiri Muslims based in Jammu.
The multi-party alliance spearheading the anti-Kashmir agitation in Jammu, the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, on Wednesday announced an economic blockade of the Kashmir valley, ordering all Kashmir-bound truck operators to halt their movements for the next three days.
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Div Com reviews essential supplies
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The Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Masaud Samoon today held a high level meeting to take stock of the availability of essential commodities including petrol and petroleum products.
The meeting among others was attended by IGP Kashmir S. M. Sahai, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar and Additional Commissioner Kashmir.
The meeting, while expressing satisfaction over the availability of essentials, informed that stocks are sufficient for about a month and there is no scarcity of essentials.
The meeting also discussed, among other matters, the problems confronted to the fruit growers and various traders of the valley.
It was told in the meeting if people of any area require essential commodities, they can contact phone number 2481276.
:CareBear: