Father’s body not allowed on highway: JK govt officer

In a new controversy to restriction on movement of civilian traffic on Srinagar-Jammu national highway, an ambulance carrying the body of the father of a senior state government official was alleged stopped on the highway by the police.

Imtiyaz Wani, Director of Finance, J&K, while sharing the ordeal on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, wrote: “All civil rights are subordinate to Amarnath Yatra while moving from Jammu to Kashmir. I am not being allowed to carry forward my father’s dead body.”

“What hell the life of a common Kashmiri is. Inspector Rakesh of @JmuKmrPolice on Yatra duty said the body shall not be allowed (sic),” he rued.

Wani’s father died in Delhi and he was taking his mortal remains to Kashmir when the ambulance was allegedly stopped by police at Nagrota on the highway due to the movement of Amarnath pilgrims.

Police, however, denied the allegations, saying it is a “misrepresentation of facts” by the official.

Earlier this month Jammu & Kashmir government had decided to ban civilian traffic movement for five hours daily on a 97-km stretch from Qazigund to Nashri on the national highway for 46-days during Amarnath yatra which had sparked a row in the insurgency-hit Himalayan state.

However, later Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan clarified that there was no blanket ban on civilian movement on the highway during the Yatra, “but only traffic regulation.”

Locals in Kashmir have been complaining about restrictions on the highway, which is the only surface connection of the Valley with the rest of the country.

A similar ban was imposed on civilian traffic from early April along the national highway between Baramulla in Kashmir and Udhampur in Jammu for two days a week to ensure safe movement of security convoys during the parliamentary elections.

The ban was ordered following the February 14 car bomb blast along the highway in Pulwama in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force troopers were killed. The ban triggered protests and was eased later before it was completely lifted on May 21.