Rajnath Singh Goes to Jammu for Rally, City Greets Him With Day-Long Bandh

Jammu: A day-long bandh greeted Home Minister Rajnath Singh when he visited Jammu on Wednesday to address a rally as part of 'Jan Kalyan Parv' to mark the first anniversary of BJP government at the Centre. The bandh, called by various organisations to protest the shifting of proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), came as a setback for the BJP which won its maximum seats in the Jammu region in the assembly elections held last year.

AIIMS Coordination Committee, a group of more than 70 social, religious, political and business organisations had called for the day-long bandh. Carrying banners and raising slogans against Mr Singh, members of the committee held protests at several places in the city.

"We want to send a message to the Union government that any injustice with the people of Jammu or the Jammu region cannot be tolerated... be it the issue of the shifting of AIIMS from Jammu to Kashmir or the shelving of the artificial lake project, people in Jammu will protest the injustice," Abhinav Sharma, president of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Jammu, said.

Markets across Jammu and adjoining districts were closed with public transport remaining off the roads. There was very low attendance in offices; schools and colleges declared a holiday and postponed examinations that were scheduled for Wednesday.

"The bandh was complete, it was observed 100 per cent throughout the Jammu region, this has sent a message to the state and the central governments that the people of Jammu region are not going to tolerate any injustice with them," Mr Sharma said.

The AIIMS coordination committee has threatened to intensify the agitation if the government does not sanction AIIMS for Jammu.

The police, meanwhile, said that the bandh was largely peaceful. "No untoward incident related to Jammu bandh was reported today," SSP Jammu Uttam Chand said.

Apart from Jammu, other districts of the region including, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Reasi also observed a complete shutdown.

The shifting of proposed AIIMS from Jammu to Kashmir has snowballed into a major controversy with people in the Jammu region protesting against the state and central governments for allegedly following an appeasement policy for Kashmir.

But the Home Minister said that the Centre is ready to hold talks with people to find a solution to the problem. "It a democratic right of the people and we are ready to hold talks with the people who have called Jammu bandh".

"It is a matter of concern and I assure you that a resolution to this issue would be taken out. I have advised the deputy chief minister of the state Dr Nirmal Singh and the party president of the state Jugal Kishore Sharma to come and meet with Prime Minister to find a solution to the issue," he added.