Nadda Assurances not enough;Protesters clash with police in Jammu over AIIMS

ACC, an amalgamation of over 70 organisations, has been leading an agitation for setting up of AIIMS in Jammu region.

The ACC had given a call for three-day complete Jammu bandh starting July 31. It will be the third bandh observed over the issue in Jammu region since April this year.

A complete bandh was earlier observed on April 24 and May 27 after which Nirmal Singh had given a written assurance that an AIIMS will be announced for Jammu by the Centre on or before July 20.

ACC members were hopeful that the three days of Jammu bandh would be sufficient to send a strong message to the government and especially to BJP, that the people of Jammu would "no longer tolerate back-stabbing".

However, Nadda's Promises have not placated ACC even a bit. The three-day shutdown over the government’s delay in announcing an AIIMS-like facility in the Jammu region turned violent when protesters clashed with police.

Police used batons and tear smoke shells to disperse protesters shouting anti-BJP slogans as they tried to force entry into the party office in Kachi Chaawni area of the city.

“The Jammu region will remain shut on July 31, August 1 and 2,” Abhinav Sharma, chairman of the committee and president of Jammu Bar Association said at a hurriedly convened midnight press conference.“It became clear on July 20 that BJP had taken recourse to dirty politics as it failed to stand by its commitment to ensure that AIIMS for Jammu region is announced,” he said.

The Jammu residents are feeling cheated as Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh had given a written assurance that AIIMS would be announced before July 21.