The growing unrest over the beef ban is once again deepening the wedge between Jammu and Kashmir, leaving the PDP-BJP government in a precarious position.
A day after protests and shutdown hit life in Jammu’s Hindu-majority areas, traders in the Kashmir valley have called for a shutdown on Monday.
While parts of Jammu region observed a bandh against a beef party organised by the Valley-based Independent legislator, Engineer Rashid, the Kashmir traders’ shutdown call is to protest against the thrashing of two Kashmiri truck drivers and burning down of their vehicle in a communal incident in Udhampur district two days ago. The drivers were flown to Delhi on Sunday to be admitted to Safdarjung Hospital.
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Udhampur has been on a boil after three carcasses of cows — all accidental deaths — were found.
Mohammad Sadiq Baqal, president of the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Forum, on Sunday held a demonstration in Srinagar and issued a call for a shutdown on Monday.