: Several leaders of the People’s United Front (PUF), an amalgam of two mainstream political parties in Kashmir, on Friday staged a sit-in against the move to impose restrictions on civilian traffic and train services during the 45-day Amarnath Yatra period.
The protesters assembled at Srinagar’s Press Enclave and raised slogans such as “Yatri aghar insaan hain, kya Kashmiri haiwaan hain [If yatri is a guest, is the Kashmiri an animal?)”.
“Such restrictions are gross violation of the fundamental rights of the people of Kashmir. People, especially traders, the civil society and ponywallas, make the yatra successful and not the security forces,” said Engineer Rashid, who heads the Awami Ittehad Party.
“It’s unfortunate that the yatra is being communalised for political gains and New Delhi is giving a notion that Kashmiris are anti-Hindu,” he added.
J&K People’s Movement general secretary and former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students union leader Shehla Rashid said, “The Centre is treating Kashmir as a land without people. How do they expect the Kashmiris to accept such restrictions without getting agitated? It is clear that the Centre wants to provoke an uprising in Kashmir.”
The protest saw the participation of people from different walks of life.
The government recently banned movement of civilian vehicles on the 97-km stretch from Qazigund to Nashri on the national highway and ordered suspension of train services on the Banihal-Qazigund rail section from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for 46 days.
“The ban will make a huge impact on transporters, students, teachers, patients, schools, tourists and traders as well and as such the government must review this decision. Transport is the engine of growth and highway is its lifeline. When it is choked, people will face shortage of goods,” said State secretary of the CPI(M) Ghulam Nabi Malik.
The JKLF said the government move “showed the religious fanatic face of the rulers hell bent upon inflicting miseries and hardships on common citizens of Kashmir”. Its acting chairman Abdul Hamid Butt said, “This ban is like putting the entire State under siege.”
