Jammu bandh on for 3 more days

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service 

Jammu, August 2

Intensifying its ongoing agitation, the AIIMS Coordination Committee (ACC) — an amalgam of over 70 social, apolitical and political groups spearheading agitation for establishment of a separate AIIMS in the Jammu region — today extended the Jammu bandh call by three more days (up to August 5) and asked the Centre “to produce an authentic document to support the claim of setting up of an independent AIIMS in Jammu”.

On the third day of the bandh, normal life was badly affected today.  All business establishments, markets and shops were closed in Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur and Reasi districts. Public transport remained off the road. 

Barring sporadic incidents of stone pelting and noisy protests, the shutdown was peaceful with Section 144 of the CrPC (banning assembly of four or more persons) within Jammu municipal limits remaining in force. 

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association yesterday announced to suspend work in all courts till August 8 in protest against police action on its president and ACC chairman Abhinav Sharma, lawyers and common public.  

“We have decided to extend the Jammu bandh for three more days due to the utter failure of the Central government to announce a full-fledged AIIMS for the region. We want full clarity from the Centre and issuance of a formal notification vis-à-vis setting of a separate AIIMS in Jammu,” Abhinav Sharma said here this evening.

The ACC chairman said, “Nowhere in India AIIMS has been divided into two parts because it will defeat the very purpose of the institution.  Further, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Amendment) Act 2012 clearly says that to establish an AIIMS in any state, it is mandatory to issue a notification clearly specifying the place and the state where AIIMS is to be established.”

He asked the Centre to make a simple announcement and issue a notification as required by the Act that they would establish AIIMS in Jammu in the current financial year without “indulging in vague and misleading statements”.

 He was flanked by Rakesh Gupta, president, Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), TS Wazir, chairman, All J&K Passenger Transport Welfare Association, BS Slathia, senior advocate, Narayan Singh, president, Amar Kashtriya Rajput Sabha.

Rakesh Gupta questioned Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s silence over the deteriorating situation in Jammu. He said, “It is highly unfortunate that the Chief Minister, who is a seasoned politician, has been following regional politics vis-à-vis the issue of setting up of AIIMS in Jammu.”

To a query, the leaders said all the 19 persons arrested by the police for violent protests and stone pelting yesterday were released last night after furnishing bail bond.

“The police have registered false and frivolous cases against us (Abhinav Sharma and TS Wazir) at the behest of directions from BJP headquarters,” they said.    

They also announced that they would deploy some buses for Amarnath and Vaishno Devi pilgrims free of cost from tomorrow so that they did not face any inconvenience due to shutdown. 

Earlier in the day, pitched battles between protesters and policemen continued in the city. In Purani Mandi area, the protesters threw stones on policemen after they prevented them to block the road and burn tyres in the middle of road. 

A dozen Congress activists, including senior vice-president and former minister Sham Lal Sharma, were arrested for defying Section 144 of the CrPC. “They were arrested from Dogra Chowk area and taken into custody at Bakshi Nagar police station,” a police official said. 

Pawan Kotwal, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, said all the government schools and colleges would remain open tomorrow and no holiday had been declared in view of the ongoing agitation. 

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Jammu, condemned the alleged physical assault on Vijay Sharma, president, Reasi Bar Association, and other office-bearers and members of the association while they were taking out a peaceful procession. It demanded stern action against the culprits.