The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, March 24, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

M A I N N E W S

K. R. Narayanan advised rest

New Delhi, March 23
President K.R. Narayanan has been advised complete rest for the next couple of days because of his indisposition.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan press statement said doctors had advised the President complete rest for the next couple of days because of gall bladder stones.

“Consequently, all his appointments scheduled for the next few days, including the visit to Jaipur tomorrow and to Hyderabad on Wednesday, have been cancelled,’’ the statement said.

Mr Narayanan’s proposed visit to Ireland and Greece in April-end or early May has also been rescheduled. The visit will now take place sometime later at a mutually convenient date, a Foreign Office spokesman said today.

Also, the visit of Slovak President Milan Kucan to India from April 26 has been rescheduled to a later mutually convenient date. UNI

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Student killed; curfew in Poonch
Protests against sacrilege rock valley

Baramula, March 23
A student was killed when the security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators at the cement bridge near here today, who were protesting against the burning of the Quran in Punjab.

The demonstrators, mostly students from different educational institutions of the district, were taking out a procession in the town raising slogans against the Prime Minister and the Shiv Sena.

The police burst teargas shells and used batons first. When these measures failed in breaking up the demonstration, security personnel posted near the cement bridge opened fire in which Mehraj-ud-Din Sheikh was critically wounded.

He died before he could be admitted to hospital, official sources said.

A temple was set on fire at Rajghat after the incident.

Officials described the situation in the town as tense but under control.

The police had a tough time dispersing students at Kupwara too where a protest demonstration was organised against the burning of the holy book.

Shops and business establishments in Baramula, Sopore and Kupwara remained closed and traffic was off the road.

A Srinagar report said all educational institutions remained closed there on a strike call given by the Jammu and Kashmir Students Union in protest against the Punjab incidents.

Shops and business establishments in several civil, downtown and uptown localities of Srinagar remained closed. Traffic on some routes was affected due to the burning of tyres on roads.

Reports of stray incidents were also reported from some parts of the city. However, heavy deployment was made in Maisuma and the adjacent localities, Dal Gate, Natipora, Rambagh and Solina.

The police and paramilitary forces were also seen deployed in strength near the United Nations military observers’ office at Sonawar.

JAMMU: Indefinite curfew restrictions were imposed on the border town of Poonch today after a section of people, protesting against the desecration of the holy Quran, indulged in violence.

Groups of people took to the streets and stoned the police and shops, resulting in tension. As the situation in the town started developing into communal conflict, the authorities imposed indefinite curfew restrictions.

The protesters tried to defy curfew restrictions and the police resorted to lathi-charge and fired teargas shells to quell violence. More than 10 persons were injured in clashes with the police and stone pelting.

The Army was called in to help the civil administration in defusing the situation. The Army patrolled the town, resulting in improvement in the situation. Protest demonstrations were held in Doda also.