Bandh disrupts normal life in Kathua, highway blocked

JAMMU: The Jammu high court bar association’s call for a bandh (shutdown) on Wednesday against the alleged targeting of the Dogra community, for the rape and murder of an eight-yearold girl in January, disrupted normal life in parts of the Jammu region.

Protesters blocked the Jammu-Pathankot national highway at Jatwal and Kootah Morh in Kathua, where the incident took place, and in Samba town. The major impact was felt in Kathua, Samba, and Jammu districts. Markets were deserted and schools closed.

The bar association organised the protest against what it calls an attempt to target the “minority Dogras” and implicate them in the rape-murder of the minor girl, who belongs to the nomadic Muslim Bakerwal community. She was abducted in Kathua on January 10, kept captive, was sedated and raped in a temple before being murdered. Her body was discovered on 17 January.

The Jammu region has been tense since the rape-murder surfaced. The police have arrested eight people in the case.

The incident, followed by the refusal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government to conduct a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe, has not only polarised the state politically but also caused a divide between Hindus and Muslims.

Lawyers, supported by social and political organisations, took out rallies on Wednesday. Clutching the Tricolour in their hands, the protestors shouted slogans against BJP ministers and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti while pressing for a CBI probe. Bar association president BS Slathia said the lawyers won’t’ budge from their demands.

Panthers Party chairman Harsh Dev Singh, who visited Kootah Morh with his supporters and blocked the highway for some time, said: “Our people, including our mothers, sisters and daughters, are agitating for the just and genuine demand for a CBI probe...”

He also lashed out at the BJP saying, “The party has meekly surrendered before the PDP and has given up all the issues of Jammu to remain in power.” The protest was peaceful.