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The order of transferring the controversial land to the Amarnath shrine board has been withdrawn by Jammu and Kashmir cabinet. The land has been transferred to the Tourism Department. The decision is taken in the meeting of the cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad while discussing the Amarnath land row which has lead to much protest in the state from anti and for quarters of the deal.

Section 144 was imposed in Jammu to prevent situation getting out of hand. Situation in the state is under control but still tense. Police had to fire in the air near Baltal in Sonamarg when some people tried to block Army vehicles en-route to Leh.

The state government had already written to Governor N N Vohra, who is also the Chairman of SASB, which it was in a better position to provide facilities to the pilgrims on a larger scale following which the shrine board gave up the claim on the land - an issue which had led to a series of protests in the valley.

This was the first time that the cabinet met formally without PDP ministers, who resigned during the weekend to protest over the hand over 39.88 hectares of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).

This move by the ministers also surprised the Congress as the proposal was mooted by two ministers before the state cabinet and both of them belonged to the PDP.

As a preventive measure in the state, police has restricted the movement of some of separatist leaders including Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Shabbir Shah.

Tags: Amarnath, BJP, Hurriyat, Jammu, Jammu Band, Kashmir, Police, Shiv Sena

In the fresh protest against the decision of hand over of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board by BJP and Shiv sena activists, 70 protesters were arrested during the clash which left 9 people injured.

Protesters were throwing stones to show their anger and also attacked houses of State Health Minister and senior Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma and People’s Democratic Party legislator Shanti Devi as said by official sources. However, there was no major incident reported so far.

Ten activists were arrested in Jammu and 60 arrested in Kathua district. Police baton charged over 1,000 BJP activists to resort traffic on Tawi Bridge.

Effigies of Governor Vohra, CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and former deputy CM Muzaffar Hussain Baig were also burnt during the agitation.

Transport system was also affected due to the protest. Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked at six places in Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Udhampur districts, where protestors put up barricades, thereby stranding over 2,000 vehicles.

It was reported that BJP and Shiv Sena activists clashed with police at Ragunath Bazaar, City Chowk, Bikram Chowk, Muthi, Kathua, R S Pura, Udhampur, Nagrota, Bari Brahamana, Vijaypur and Samba areas in Jammu district during the bandh.

“The situation is under control. There is no major incident reported from anywhere in Jammu region. Some preventive arrests were made,” Inspector General of Police Jammu K Rajindra said.

Tags: Amarnath, BJP, Jammu, Jammu Band, Kashmir, Police, Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece “Saamna” was attacked by a group of unidentified persons on Thursday night after Saamna carried a photograph of Narayan Rane clad in a saree on the front page.

The group allegedly supporters of Maharashtra Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, damage the window panes by throwing stones on the office of Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ at Dhayari on Sinhagad road in late hours of Thursday evening.

It is suspected that the recent news published in the paper showing a digitally edited image of revenue minister Narayan Rane wearing a saree is the reason behind this attack.

No casualty is reported according to the Haveli police.

Tags: Attack, Narayan Rane, Saamna, Saree, Shiv Sena

After one more fresh attack on North Indians by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray in Mumbai, state Police on Sunday said that they may take legal action against him.

Congress and BJP claimed that his remarks were “objectionable” and have no place in country’s polity, referring to which Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor told in Mumbai, “We are going through the transcripts and if we find any provocative content in it, we will refer it to a legal team. Based on their advice, we may also initiate fresh legal action against Raj.”

On Saturday, Thackeray attacked North Indians for trying to “invade” Marathi culture and dared the government to arrest him for making the statement while giving a speech in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh termed Raj’s remarks as “objectionable” and said the police would do the needful.

“Shiva, Parvathi, Ganesh, are all members of the same family. Nobody should be allowed to indulge in politics of breaking the family”, BJP chief Rajnath Singh said.

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh also accused Congress of supporting Raj.

‘I am convinced that many ministers in Maharashtra government are behind Raj’s attack against North Indians’, he alleged. “They are using Raj as their means to put up their agenda”, Singh said.

Raj Thackray had led a violent anti-North Indian campaign in February and was arrested on charges of inciting people, as the party had allegedly been behind the creation of Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Tags: Maharashtra, Mumbai, North Indians, Raj, Raj Thackeray, Sena, Shiv Sena, Thackeray

After having made the Central Bharatiya Janata Party leadership agree to his demands, BJP leader Gopinath Munde met Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray again late on Thursday night and sought his “blessings”.

Munde has returned to Mumbai from Delhi after meeting the top BJP leaders including LK Advani and Rajnath Singh. After coming back Munde meets Thackray at his residence during which the Shiv Sena leader wished him all success.

Earlier Munde met Thackray three days back before going to Delhi. Thackray supported Munde on the issue of Munde’s resignation. Munde who was not satisfied with party functioning has resigned from all the party posts on Sunday and expressed his displeasure over the appointment of Madhu Chavan as the new president of Mumbai BJP unit. Later after meeting with senior leaders in Delhi he cancelled his resignation where he was assured that his conditions will be taken care.

Thackeray in an editorial in Sena paper Samna had expressed his support for Munde, but also advised him to “look back” before taking any step forward.

After the BJP leadership agreed to concede to Munde’s demands, Thackeray in another editorial on Thursday praised him for making the BJP top brass “buckle” and also for bringing in democracy in the party.

Tags: Advani, Bala Saheb, BJP, Gopinath Munde, LK Advani, Mumbai, Munde, Rajnath Singh, Shiv Sena, Thackeray

Shiv Sena on Thursday hailed senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde for his daring action to rebel and made the party to agree his conditions.

In an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ headlined “Dilli bhi Jhukti hai”, the BJP’s long-standing ally said leaders like Uma Bharati and Madanlal Khurana did rebel but they were shown the door.

“Uma Bharati, who rebelled, was shown the door while the rebellion of Khurana was crushed. Only Munde rebelled and came back on his own terms,” the editorial said.

“Munde had practically rebelled. He told them (BJP leadership in Delhi when summoned) bluntly that he would not go. He kept his word and did not go. But he rlater elented and went - but on his own terms - and got what he wanted,” said the editorial in the paper edited by Sena chief Bala Thackeray.

Gopinath Munde, who quit from his party posts including that of general secretary on Sunday, has cancelled his resignation after talking with Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) central leadership on Tuesday in New Delhi. Regarding this issue, Bala Thackray has supported Munde.

Tags: BJP, Gopinath Munde, Mumbai, Munde, Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena put forward its demand of mandatory identity proofs for all outsiders to enter in Mumbai, Yesterday in Lok Sabha. Also Shiv Sena asked identity proof verification before entering Maharashtra.

For many days, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Seva were targeting north Indians and wanted them out of Maharashtra. Every day there is something worse waiting for North Indians in Maharashtra. And now the demand of ID proofs!

Thackrays are now planning something new to trouble North Indians. If there demand would be materialized then people will definitely face problems visiting the state especially North Indians. There seems no sense in the proposal of Shiv Sena.

Tags: ID, ID proof, MNS, Mumbai, Shiv Sena, Thackray