The Jammu administration told the visiting all-party delegation today that the Amarnath land revocation order has “hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus in the state” and their protests have “assumed the dimension of a mass movement”. And “public mobilisation” fanned by provocative speeches by religious leaders and “vested interests” had created “regional and communal polarisation amongst the population”.

The all-party delegation will be briefed by the administration in Srinagar tomorrow.

In fact, the Jammu administration today gave data to the all-party team to underline the communal dimension of the agitation. The visiting team was told that 3,758 protests took place in Jammu city, 2,270 in Kathua, 1,850 in Samba, 1,480 in Udhampur, 740 in Riyasi, 115 in Doda, 74 in Ramban, 74 in Kishtwar, 37 in Poonch and 115 in Rajouri district.

The administration provided a detailed Hindu-Muslim population break-up which shows that Hindu-dominated districts saw the most protests and that any communal violence could have alarming repercussions.

As per population details provided by the administration, in Jammu and Samba, Hindus make up 86% of the population while Muslims constitute 5.68%. In Udhampur and Riyasi, Hindus are 73% of the population while Muslims 25.57%. In Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban, 41.46% of the population is Hindu while 57.92% is Muslim. In Kathua, Hindus are 89.8% of the population and 8.14% are Muslims; 37.28% of the population in Rajouri is Hindu while 60.23% is Muslim while Poonch has 5.2% Hindu and 91.92% Muslim population.

The salient points of the briefing:

* 18 cases have been registered in connection with communal violence in which 20 persons were injured, 72 Kulas (hutments) of Gujjars were burnt down, 22 vehicles damaged and several trucks carrying supplies looted. “These are only reported incidents. Many such incidents have taken place, which have not been reported so far,” the officers told the team.

... contd.