Block national highway; say govt has failed to implement PM’s rehabilitation package. Displaced Pandit youth on Sunday blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway at Nagrota after the police stopped them from travelling to Srinagar, where they had decided to hold a protest on Monday.

Nearly 200 youth under the banner of the Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj (YAIKS) had planned to stage a demonstration at historic Lal Chowk in Srinagar against the failure of the Centre and the state government to implement the Prime Minister’s rehabilitation package for the resettlement of Pandits in the Valley. A traffic jam was witnessed near the Ban toll plaza.

After the intervention of the police, the protesters were allowed to proceed but were again stopped at Tikri near Udhampur, where they staged a sit-in at the police station.

“It is unfortunate that the police used forceto stop us. The government does not allow us to hold a protest against its failure to fully implement the employment component of the PM package. We will continue our sit-in,” said RK Bhat, president, YAIKS.

Protesters alleged that the BJP-led Central government had ignored the people displaced by militancy in Kashmir, especially Pandit youth who were willing to return to their homeland.

Courtesy: The Tribune: 22 Oct, 2018