Jalandhar, July 3
The nationwide bandh call given by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and various other Hindu organisations on the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board land row received an overwhelming response in the city as normal life was thrown out of gear on Thursday.

BJP activists along with members of other Hindu organisations like the RSS, the Shiv Sena and the Bajrang Dal marched throughout the city brandishing swords, daggers, baseball bats, sticks and batons.

They smashed windowpanes of various shops, forcing the shopkeepers to close their establishments.

The hooliganism by the protesters virtually ruled the roads till late in the afternoon. They were seen pulling down hoardings leading to traffic chaos at various places.

Besides, they burnt the effigy of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at Nakodar Road to express their resentment.

They also blocked the Jalandhar-Ludhiana highway at Rama Mandi following a tiff between some activists and local shopkeepers.

The traffic, which was disrupted for more than two hours, was later restored after the intervention of local MLA K.D. Bhandari who pacified the agitators.

Reports said Vishav Hindu Parishad (VHP) and BJP activists also created a ruckus at Ramnik Chowk in Kapurthala.

NAWANSHAHR: The town received a mixed response to the nationwide bandh call given by the BJP and various other Hindu organisations.

Activists of the BJP and other Hindu organisations raised slogans against the Jammu and Kashmir government and marched through various markets to get shops closed.

However, the situation remained peaceful. The activists submitted a memorandum to the ADC for submission to the President and the Prime Minister demanding imposition of Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir.

They also urged the President and the PM to prevail upon the J&K government to revoke its decision of withdrawing land allotted to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board as it had hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community.

BATALA: All the industrial and commercial establishments observed a complete bandh here on Thursday in response to a call given by Hindu organisations to protest against the cancellation of land transfer in favour of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board by the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishav Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena (Hindustan) got the shutters of shops down. Protesters threw stones 
at Shukarpura when a shopkeeper refused to close the shop.

There an was exchange of brickbats which caused injuries to Kulwinder Gandhi who has been admitted to the civil hospital. The roads and bazars wore a deserted look.

KAPURTHALA: Almost a complete bandh was observed in Kapurthala and Phagwara on Thursday in response to the nationwide call against Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Congress government’s action.

While shops in all the major bazaars, including those located at Gaushala Road, Bansa Bazaar and Banga Road remained closed, no work was done at most of the industrial units located on the outskirts of Phagwara.

No major untoward incident was reported.

Jalandhar, July 3
Following a sharp decline in admissions being sought to the humanities stream in classes XI and XII, the city schools have now started witnessing an equally steep fall in the admissions to the medical stream. In contrast, the influx into non-medical stream that only replaces mathematics with biology has increased manifold with a majority of girls also opting for it.

While there are three to four sections in the non-medical stream with more than 40 students each in almost every school here, the authorities are finding it hard to fill even a single section of the medical stream.

The difference in the response to the two science streams can easily be gauged from the increase in the number of applicants to engineering entrance tests and fall in candidates for the medical entrance tests this year.

The fact that several new engineering colleges, including those only for girls, are opening up, further indicates an increasing demand of the non-medical stream.

The reason for the difference is being attributed to the fact that a student who takes admission to the medical stream has to struggle hard at the time of admission owing to fewer medical colleges.

“He then spends eight to nine years completing postgraduation and still does not find very lucrative options. Super-speciality is the need of the hour which is expensive as well as time-consuming, especially when the possibilities of a good practice are uncertain,” Police DAV Public School principal Rashmi Vij cites one of the reasons.

“On the contrary, a B. Tech student has a job offer of minimum Rs 3 lakh as an annual package even before he passes out,” she said, terming the sudden shift as herd mentality.

Vij mentioned yet another factor. “Till almost a decade back, the profession of a doctor or a teacher was considered very noble. But commercialisation has changed the perception of society. Whenever an angry mob strikes, it first bangs the windowpanes of a hospital. Teachers too are no more considered nation builders for they too concentrate on taking tuitions rather than regular curriculum classes to make more profit,” she pointed out.

CT Public School vice-principal Anumita Gosal assigned the reason to more career options after non-medical stream such as NDA, merchant navy, hotel management, architecture course, BBA/MBA, BSc computer science and diploma courses, all of which, she said, were paying.

“A medical student has options like pharmacy and physiotherapy only for which demand in India is not as high. Biotechnology, bioinformatics, biophysics and other combinations are also newer arenas with little scope,” she added.

Nawanshahr, July 3
The Sandeep Murder Action Committee would organise a rally at Balachaur on Friday in protest against the failure of the police to nab the accused even after a month of the incident.

Committee member Mahan Singh Rouri said former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, PPCC spokesman Bir Devinder Singh, CPM state secretary Balwant Singh, CPI leader Bhupinder Sambher and Lok Bhalai Party chief Balwant Singh Ramoowaliawould address the rally. — OC

Amritsar, July 3
The police arrested six persons on the charge of gambling and seized Rs 10,390 along with seven mobile phones from them.

The accused have been identified as Jai Gopal, Amrik Singh, Harjinder Singh, Gurbinder Singh, Jashandeep Singh and Chatarjit Singh. A case under sections 13/3/67 of the Gambling Act has been registered.

Meanwhile, the police held five satta operators from different parts of the city and seized Rs 5,775 from them. Mandeep Kumar of Islamabad was held with Rs 3,000, while Sarwan Kumar of Naraingarh was arrested with Rs 1,080.

Similarly, Satish Kumar was held with Rs 1,015, while Ashwani Kumar and Manoj Kumar were caught with Rs 370 and Rs 310, respectively.

A case has been registered.