Jammu observes total bandh against attack on Amarnath pilgrims

City Chowk market wearing a deserted look as Jammu observed a total bandh on Tuesday. -Excelsior/Rakesh
City Chowk market wearing a deserted look as Jammu observed a total bandh on Tuesday. -Excelsior/Rakesh

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 11: The normal life was thrown out of gear as Jammu observed a total bandh on the call given by two main opposition parties National Conference (NC) and Congress as well as trade and business organizations, transporters and socio -religious bodies in protest against the killing of seven Shri Amarnath Ji yatris in terrorist attack on National Highway near Botengo in South Kashmir’s district of Anantnag yesterday.
The traders kept shutters of their business establishments down for the entire day while the public transport was off the roads and private educational institutions also remained closed. However, the private transport plied normally.
The response to the bandh call was mostly spontaneous in almost all markets as people had a lot of anger against the attack on pilgrims. Barring a few markets where the volunteers of the NC, Congress, Panthers Party, Team Jammu, Bajrang Dal, (BD) and other bodies forced the shopkeepers to down the shutters of their business establishments in all other markets the business establishments remained closed throughout the day.
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The attendance in Government offices also remained thin as the transport was off the roads. While the Amarnath pilgrims did not face much problem as maximum had made arrangements of transport from their respective states, and the bandh enforcers had kept the Amarnath buses out of the purview of call, the pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi however, were put to lot of problems due to transport strike.
All the business establishments remained close in main city, Raghunath Bazar, Residency Road, City Chowk, Kanak Mandi, Khatin Ka Talab, Kachi Chawni, Purani Mandi, Lakhdata Bazar, Jain Bazar, Link Road,  Panjtirthi, Janipur, Newplots, Ambphalla, Jewel, Chowk, Canal Road, Gandhi Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Trikuta Nagar, Bakshi Nagar, Subash Nagar, Shakti  Nagar and other markets for the entire day.
However, there were minor clashes between the bandh enforcers in some markets after the traders in these markets did not agree to close their shops earlier. But the traders response to the bandh call in almost all other markets was spontaneous.  Some of the traders who voluntarily supported the bandh told this reporter that Pakistan by attacking the pilgrims has posed a big challenge to us and observing a total bandh against the killings by terrorists is a befitting reply to perpetrators of terrorism.
There was also a complete bandh on the outskirts of the city like Talab Tillo, Bohri, Muthi, Paloura, Bantalab and rural areas of Damana, Purkhoo, Jhiri and Mishriwala. The people in Mishriwala and Muthi took out a rally asking the shopkeepers to down their shutters in support of bandh call.
The activists of NC and Congress who took out rallies in the city and its outskirts appealed the people to observe a total bandh and show solidarity with those families whose nears and dears were killed in the terrorist attack. They also visited in various markets in the city asking traders and transporters to make the bandh call a total success.
The NC and Congress workers also took rallies in Residency Road and Jewel Chowk area in support of bandh call and protest against the killings.
The volunteers of National Panthers Party (NPP), BD, VHP, Hindu Raksha Samiti and Team Jammu led by Zorawar Singh Jamwal also moved in various areas of the Jammu in rallies to enforce the bandh call in those localities where the shops were open. They visited the Residency Road, Raghunath Bazar, Digiana, Bantlab, Muthi and other localities to enforce the bandh call.
The reports coming from other towns said that there was a total bandh in Rajouri town after 11-30 am today in response to bandh call. The volunteers of various organizations took to streets at 11am and forced the shopkeepers to down the shutters of their business establishments in the entire town in protest against the killings.
The bandh was also observed in Nowshera township of Rajouri after 2 pm in response to call given by various organizations against the killings.
A dawn to dusk bandh was also observed in Udhampur , Tikri and Majalta in protest against the killing of yatris by the terrorists. All the shops and business establishments in Udhampur town, Tikri and Majalta remained closed in response to the bandh call while the public transport was off the roads.
To express their resentment over the attack on yatris the members of minority community in Doda, Bhaderwah, Premnagar, Ramban and Kishtwar observed a complete bandh. The shops and other business establishments of minority community remained closed for the whole day. However, Government offices and banks functioned normally and traffic plied on the roads was usual. The bandh call was given by Sanatan Dharam Sabha (SDS) and VHP to express their resentment over the brutal attack.