Jammu:
Curfew was declared in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri town and the army held a flag march today when protests were held following reports that activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad had burnt flags of the Islamic State - the terror group that's causing havoc in Iraq and Syria.
The protesters held that the flags bore Quranic verses and demanded that the persons responsible be arrested.
Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh has appealed for calm from both the communities. "There should be no communal tension. We appeal to both the communities to observe calm," he told reporters in Jammu.
The situation is under control, District Magistrate Deepti Uppal has said.
Mr Singh, however, has ruled out arrest of VHP activists. The IS flags, he said, were the symbols of a "terrorist outfit". "Burning the symbol of terrorists and anti-national elements is the work of nationalism," he added.
Clarifying that it had no intention to hurt religious sentiments, the VHP has asked the protesters to hold demonstrations against the Islamic State for placing holy inscriptions on its flag.
"We had burnt the IS flag. We did not know as to what was written on it in Persian," said state VHP patron Ramakant Dubey.