Centre nod for accord between Samiti, guv

The Centre has approved the draft agreement reached between the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti and Governor NN Vohra’s four-member panel. Aurangzeb Naqshbandi reports.

The Centre has approved the draft agreement reached between the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti and Governor NN Vohra’s four-member panel.

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As per the agreement, to be announced in two or three days, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court order of 2005, handing over land to the shrine board for three months a year, will be implemented in “letter and spirit”.

Although talks between the samiti and panel broke down over invoking the Public Safety Act (PSA) against Jammu agitators, the draft prepared during the day was approved at a late night meeting, chaired by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

After rounds of talks, the two sides agreed on the draft proposal. But negotiations entered a rough patch after the panel proposed slapping of the PSA against those enforcing alleged economic blockade on Kashmir.

The administration has ordered that Swami Dinesh Bharti be detained under the PSA for “inflammatory” speeches.

The samiti has said it was suspending talks over police excesses and wanted some top police officers removed. It also wanted the Centre to send a team to assess losses the region had suffered.