CHANDIGARH: A day after the suspension of Amarnath Yatra over the alleged stabbing of a Kashmiri businessman near Baltal, over 100 right-wing activists disrupted the journey of a Jammu & Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation bus and delayed its journey for over one hour at the ISBT, Sector 43, on Sunday.
The protestors from Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal started gathering at ISBT-43 around 4 pm. They raised anti-J&K government slogans and demanded immediate restoration of the pilgrimage to Amarnath. The bus, which was scheduled to move at 5 pm from the bus terminal, moved at 6 pm and Chandigarh police asked Punjab police to provide it security when it enters the state.
As protestors gathered around the bus, passengers were advised to come out. This even forced some of them to drop the idea of purchasing tickets. Suresh Raina of Jammu said, “I have came from Delhi and had to leave for Jammu to take care of an emergency situation, but this protest has delayed me.”
Deejinder Dogra, a local VHP leader, said, “Our intention was not to hurt anyone. We wanted to show our outrage over the suspension of the yatra and these protests will persist.”
SHO of PS 36, inspector Maninder Singh said, “We shared the number of the bus with Punjab police and suggested that it provides the bus security till J&K border.” The intelligence wing of Chandigarh police also conveyed the message to Punjab police state headquarters in Sector 9. Thereafter, a police gypsy escorted the bus from Kurali.
The local police had earlier advised the transport authority to cancel the journey of the bus for a day, but later allowed it to proceed. However, passengers left amid anxiety about their journey through Punjab. There is only one J&K transport corporation bus which moves from Chandigarh to Jammu at 5pm every day.