India-Kashmir-Indefinite Curfew
Authorities clamped an indefinite curfew here Thursday to prevent violence a day after a man, who was on hunger strike to protest a recent government decision on land transfer issue, allegedly committed suicide.

38 year old Kuldip Raj Dogra reportedly consumed some poisonous substance in the hope that ending his life would force the authorities to return the land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), a leader of Amarnath Yatra Sangarash Samiti (AYSS) said.

The indefinite curfew was imposed at dawn as a precautionary measure as tension gripped Jammu city following the incident.

Dogra, son of Janak Raj who had joined the ongoing protest, appeared at the venue, where the AYSS was holding a chain hunger strike Thursday afternoon, in a subconscious state. He made an emotional speech. He also recited a poem and fell down soon after finishing it,'' an eyewitness said.

Dogra was immediately shifted to the hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

However Samiti leaders said Dogra made an emotional speech to the gathering, saying the revocation of the land transfer order to the shrine board had driven him to desperation. He said he was "sacrificing his life for the cause", they claimed.

Soon after, AYSS activists brought Dogra's body to the Parade Ground and refused to let the police conduct a post mortem. Police forcibly took away the body for post mortem but as soon as the procedure was over, the activists again brought back the body to the ground.

Soon after news of suicide spread hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the government.

The activists of the saffron brigade took out protest rallies on two-wheelers throughout the city raising anti-government slogans.

However, the civil administration deployed state police and paramilitary personnel all across the city to maintain law and order.

AYSS is demanding the allocation of nearly 40 hectares of forest land to the SASB, which was first diverted to the shrine board May 26 for setting up temporary prefabricated structures for pilgrims travelling to the cave shrine of Hindu god Shiva in south Kashmir.

The issue triggered massive protests in Kashmir. Protesters in the Muslim-majority region charged the plot would be used to settle outsiders and change the demographic character of Kashmir.

The government rescinded the order July 1. That silenced the street protests in the Kashmir valley but ignited a counter agitation in Jammu, where protesters are still demanding allotment of the plot to the shrine board.