After 13-days, curfew lifted in Kishtwar, Taj leads peace march in communal strife hit town

BEIGH SHAMIM AHMED :-Kishtwar: Day time curfew was Tuesday lifted in Kishtwar, 13 days after restrictions were imposed there following communal strife, as the situation was returning to normal."In view of betterment of situation, curfew was lifted from noon in the town," District Magistrate, Kishtwar, Baseer Khan, told said.There was noreport of any untoward incident from anywhere in the district and the situation was returning to normal, he said.The all-party delegation,which was here since August 19 to hold talks with members of the two communities to end tension, left today, Khan said.He said a peace rally was taken out in the town by two communities to forge communal harmony."Deadlock between the two communities had been resolved. Jointmeetings were held with both the communities and it was decided to take out peace rally in the town to end tension and forge communal harmony," he said.A delegation headed by Minister for Medical Education, Youth and Sports Services, Taj Mohi-ud-Din also also lead a peace march and held talks with the deputations representing twocommunities, political parties, besides local administration. Taj continued with its efforts to restore peace and communal amity and was able to get both the communities on a single table. This was followed by a peace march held in the town which was attended by members of both the communities including traders, intellectuals, political and social workers and studentsThe members of delegation included Devinder Rana and Surjit Singh Salathia of NC, G M Saroori, Janak Raj Gupta and Thakur Hari Singh of INC, Ashok Khajuria and Dr Nirmal Singh of BJP, Balwant Singh Mankotia of NPP, Sheikh Abdul Rehman of SP, Sham Prasad Kesar of CPI (M), SHS Raina of Shiromani Akali Dal, R S Baloria of NCP, Tulsi Dass Langeh and Rattan Kumar Bhagat of BSP and Tej Ram Dogra of PDFCurfew was imposed in Kishtwar on August 9 after communal clashes broke out there in which three persons were killed, over 20 others injured and 75 business establishments along with 35 vehicles gutted.Tension had spread to other districts which witnessed violent protests against the clashes and restrictions were imposed.The all-party delegation had held several rounds of talks with members of both the communities and officers of the district administration. They also undertook a visit of the affected areas in the district to assessthe situation