Several activists of the Shiv Sena on Monday burnt the Pakistani flag here to protest “Pak-sponsored” terror attack at Dina Nagar area of Gurdaspur district in northern Indian state of Punjab.
The protest, led by the party’s state Vice President Inderjit Karwal, prompted authorities to divert the route of one of the buses plying between India and Pakistan under the banner of “Sada-e-Sarhad”.
According to police, while the Lahore-bound Indian bus from Indian capital New Delhi passed normally from NH1 here much before the protest, the other bus, bound for New Delhi from Lahore, was diverted from Kartarpur via Nakodar, Noormahal, Phillaur on to NH1 near Phillaur, skipping the Phagwara area.
Meanwhile, the protesters, who first assembled at <g data-gr-id="24">Hanumangarhi</g> temple, marched towards NH1 which connects New Delhi and Attari in <g data-gr-id="21">Punjab ,</g> finally converging at the Sugar mill crossing.
Raising slogans against Pakistan and terrorists, they set ablaze the Pakistani flag there and staged demonstrations, leading to a slight disruption in traffic.
While addressing the protesters, <g data-gr-id="26">Karwal</g> demanded “snapping of all ties” with Pakistan and “discontinuation of international buses and trains” <g data-gr-id="27">plying</g> between the two nations to protest that country’s “continued sinister attempts to destabilise India through cross-border terrorism.”
He said that the terror strike in Gurdaspur where heavily-armed militants in army uniform on Monday sprayed bullets on a moving bus and stormed a police station, killing six persons, including an SP, and injuring eight others, was “sponsored” by Pakistan.
The protesters also paid homage to those killed in Monday’s attack.