Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 13: Normalcy was restored in Bari Brahmana town tonight after more than four hours of road blockade during which mob torched two vehicles and one shop in protest against denial of permission to them to hold ‘Chinj’ (local wrestling) over a piece of disputed land at Bassi Khurd, falling on the borders of Bishnah and Bari Brahmana.
Several hundreds of vehicles were stranded along Jammu-Pathankot National Highway for several hours as mob blocked the Highway for more than five hours, holding protest demonstrations, shouting slogans, pelting stones on police personnel and torching two vehicles and one shop before the situation was brought under control at around 10 pm.
Though the traffic was restored on the highway at 10 pm, it took another two hours for complete restoration of vehicular movement. Several pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi ji and Amarnath ji shrine were stranded in the road blockade.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jammu zone Rajesh Kumar told the Excelsior late tonight that situation has been completely brought under control and normalcy restored in Bari Brahmana.
Kumar said after two hours of peaceful protests by the people, some of the miscreants taking cover of women and children, who were part of the protests, torched two vehicles including a police Gypsy and a civil Ambassador car apart from a scrap dealer’s shop at Bari Brahmana.
The IGP said police personnel were deployed in strength to defuse the tension and control the mob. “Normalcy was restored in Bari Brahmana area after the protesters were persuaded to disperse at around 9 pm. Everything became normal by 10 pm. Traffic has been restored on the National Highway,” he added.
DIG Jammu-Kathua range Shakeel Ahmed Beig said there was a court stay on a piece of disputed land at Bassi Khurd on the border of Bishnah and Bari Brahmana with the condition that if the people want to hold ‘Chinj’ with communal harmony they should be allowed. The Court had also laid down the condition that holding the `Chinj’ won’t entitle the organizers from claiming the land.
Beig said the authorities wanted the organizers to hold the `Chinj’ at the venue, where they had organized it last year but they wanted the disputed land to be cleared with a tractor, which was objected by the administration.
Authorities, the DIG added, were ready to allow the people to hold ‘dangal’ at any other place.
Meanwhile, the people said, they had been holding `dangal’ at the venue for past several years and there was no dispute over the land.
“We simply wanted to hold the ‘dangal’ like previous years at Bassi Khurd. If the land was not disputed for several years how can it become disputed within day”? they asked and blamed the administration for deliberately denying them the permission for holding ‘dangal’. The people said they had nothing against any community but only wanted to hold the `dangal’ there, which the administration didn’t allow forcing them to march to Bar Brahmana, hold protests and block the National Highway.
They said they will continue to hold the peaceful protests. The ‘dangal’ was scheduled to be held today.
Sources said police had to use lathicharge and tear smoke shells on the miscreants, who burnt two vehicles and one shop. The highway was completely cleared around 10 pm. Nearly a dozen people suffered injuries in police lathicharge and teargassing, they added. Eight police personnel were injured in stone pelting by the mob. The people marched from Bassi Khurd and surrounding areas to Bari Brahmana around 3 pm.
Even as traffic on National Highway was restored around 10 pm, it took the authorities more than two hours to clear the entire highway of traffic jam. The jam was witnessed right from Gangyal to Pathankot and the people had to face enormous inconvenience.
Meanwhile, a police spokesman said the mela at Dera Bassi Khurd in Bishnah went off peacefully and was attended by about 2000 to 2500 people.
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