72 hour Jammu bandh over AIIMS turns violent

A coordination committee formed for pressing the government for setting up an AIIMS in Jammu comprises lawyers, traders, industrialists and civil society members.

The 72 hour Jammu bandh to push for an AIIMS in the region turned violent on the very first day. The police resorted to lathi charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse protesters who tried to break through police cordon outside state BJP headquarters here on Friday. Significantly, the AIIMS coordination committee comprising various political and social organizations including opposition National Conference, Congress and Panthers Party had decided to go ahead with the bandh call beginning Friday.

The decision was taken despite announcement of separate AIIMS like institutions for both Jammu and the Valley by the Union Health Minister J P Nadda in Delhi a day earlier. Rather it described Nadda’s announcement as yet another betrayal of Jammu region by BJP from where it has got the highest ever 25 seats during 2014 assembly elections.

Except for Jammu city and its outskirts, besides Kathua, Udhampur, Ramnagar and Chenani where people observed near total to partial bandh, the shops and other business establishments were open as usual in most parts of Jammu region. In areas observing bandh, apart from lawyers, the Congress and National Conference leaders took out rallies and burnt the effigies of BJP accusing it of betraying the interests of Jammu region.

Trouble erupted in Jammu city when slogan shouting protesters reached near the BJP headquarters at Kachhi Chowani where police had blocked the road with barbed wire. As the protestors tried to remove the fence, police resisted making the former resort to stone pelting. To stop them from entering the BJP headquarters, the cops resorted to lathi charge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the clashing groups. The BJP and Congress-Panthers Party had an altercation at Ramnagar when later tried to force some traders to close their shops. Banihal town too observed bandh, but for a different reason altogether as the people there were protesting over poor health services at the local sub district hospital.