Revoke J&K’s special status to prove it is part of India: Shiv Sena
Kumar. A resident of Amritsar in Punjab, he has been visiting the shrine for 17 years.
Two couples from Surat said they were at the Himalayan shrine when pilgrims were hit. Their families were frantic as the bus that was fired upon was registered in Gujarat and three of the dead were also from that state.
“We came down this morning and our phones have been ringing constantly. People have been calling from home, asking if we are fine,” said Dinesh Jariwala. “We are a bit worried about going back but we hope things will fine.” A group from Muradabad in Uttar Pradesh had similar concerns. “We had been advised against leaving for Jammu today, and so we are staying back,” Ashish Singh said.
A shutdown was called in Jammu on Tuesday in protest against the killings.
The 40-day pilgrimage, also known as the Amarnath Yatra, began on June 29. The government said more than 35,000 troops were being deployed to protect the twin pilgrimage routes. This year, police are using dronemounted surveillance cameras, jammers, dog squads, bulletproof bunkers, satellite tracking devices and other gadgets to secure the pilgrimage in view of increased violence in the Valley.
To rein in terrorism in Kashmir, the Shiv Sena has urged the Centre to scrap Article 370 that gives special status to the state within eight days and show that Kashmir is an integral part of India.
In an editorial in the Sena’s mouthpiece, Saamana, the party said while terrorism was rampant in Kashmir during the Congress-led regime, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government too has not been able to change the situation.
The party said, “If you want to send a strong message to extremists and Pakistan, show that Kashmir is an integral part of India by scrapping Article 370, which gives special status to the state in the next eight days. The country needs action and for that it is alright even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to imbibe Hitler’s form.”
The Sena said it is unfortunate that while the Centre celebrated GST implementation , it could not apply the single levy that has unified the country to Kashmir due to Article 370.
“All this was happening during the Congress government’s rule and so the public elected a change to have a courageous government. But though the government changed, the situation in Kashmir has not changed at all,” the editorial added. Seven people died in the attack on Monday.