Pilgrims bear the brunt as bandh paralyses normal life in Jammu

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 1

The ongoing stand-off between the AIIMS Coordination Committee (ACC) and the PDP-BJP government over the setting up of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has crippled Jammu and hit tourists and pilgrims hard.

The shutdown paralysed normal life in the city for the second day today. All business establishments, market places and shops remained closed. Public transport remained off the roads. Schools, colleges and universities also remained closed. Protesters blocked the Jammu-Srinagar highway and various roads in the city by burning tyres.

Jammu residents in general and tourists and pilgrims from outside the state in particular are bearing the maximum brunt of the ACC’s three-day bandh, which began on Friday.  

The mainstay of J&K’s feeble economy has always been tourism and pilgrimage that peaks from May to September. The Jammu bandh has come at a time when the Amarnath yatra and the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage are at their peak. 

Associated Chamber of Traders’ Federation president Yashpal Gupta said a daylong shutdown across the Jammu region caused a loss of Rs 400 crore to the industry. It implies the 

72-hour Jammu bandh will cause a colossal loss of Rs 1,200 crore.

17 protesters taken into custody

A dozen persons were injured and 17 others were taken into custody after the police used tear smoke shells and resorted to cane-charge during pitched battles between protesters and policemen in the city today.

Tear smoke shells fired by the police also landed inside a government hospital and a house at Gandhi Nagar, triggering panic among patients, visitors and residents.

Two of the injured, hit by smoke shells, were taken to Government Medical College and Hospital. The ACC said 50 of its workers were injured in police action today.

“Burnt tyres, pieces of smashed windscreens on deserted roads, presence of so many policemen, sloganeers in cavalcades…it doesn’t seem to be a temple city anymore,” said Bhaskar Dave, a tourist from Pune. It looks like the peaceful city has been put under curfew, he added.

Kathua, Samba, Udhampur and Reasi districts also observed a shutdown. 

Section 144 imposed

The authorities imposed Section 144 of the CrPC within the Jammu municipal limits and adjoining tehsils today. It bans assembly of four or more persons. The ban did not deter the ACC workers to take to streets and express anger against the BJP for not fulfilling the promise of a full-fledged AIIMS for Jammu.

Meanwhile, trouble erupted today at Jewel Chowk outside the Nowabad police station when policemen disallowed ACC workers to take out a protest rally.

As tempers ran high among the protesters, the police allegedly damaged a vehicle — part of the rally — and then cane-charged the protestors, including  ACC chairman Abhinav Sharma.

Despite prohibitory orders, activists took out rallies in several parts of the city. As they reached the Jewel Chowk, Indira Chowk and Kachi Chawani areas, policemen stopped them from moving towards the BJP headquarters, resulting in clashes.