Aug 06 2008
8 members of Amarnath Shrine Board resigned, Jammu products boycotted!
As the Jammu-violence on the issue of Amarnath land row is getting worse day by day, eight members of the Shri Amaranth Shrine Board (SASB) out of total ten resigned on Wednesday to facilitate re-constitution of the board.
The members submitted their resignation to state Governor N N Vohra. The other two members left in the board includes the state Governor himself and the CEO of the board, who happens to be the Principal Secretary to the Governor. According to the sources, the new board will have members only from the state of J&K.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet top leaders of political parties on Wednesday to discuss measures to calm the situation in the state. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief Rajnath Singh and top leaders of Left parties leaders are expected to attend the meeting.
Amid the continuous violence, the Kashmir Traders Federation decided to boycott Jammu products. The Traders Federation has said that it will snap all business ties with traders in Jammu region and instead buy products directly from other markets like Amritsar and Delhi.
“We have decided not to buy any product from traders in Jammu and instead buy products directly from other markets like Delhi and Amritsar,” Chairman of the Traders Federation Jan Mohammad Koul told news agencies in Srinagar.
Koul accused the Centre which fails to provide protection to the traders of Kashmir. He further added, “The situation in the aftermath of economic blockade of the Valley and attacks on minority community in Jammu has made it clear that it is part of a well-thought out conspiracy and the Centre is involved in it.”
He criticized the government and complaints that truck loads are not being allowed to move to Kashmir and instead of doing anything, government is watching the scenario like a mute spectator only.
Koul said, “We will not cooperate with the traders of Jammu anymore. We are not going to buy any goods from them … we have decided to boycott Jammu traders.”
Telling that they will find new markets in other cities, he said, “We will continue our struggle for an alternative route to the Valley.”
The violence over the land allocation for Amarnath pilgrims has rocked the state for the last many days.
