Relatives at the funeral procession of a youth who died in the Amarnath violence in Srinagar. (AFP)

Srinagar, July 5: Several influential Muslim leaders in Jammu have sided with Hindu groups agitating against the government’s decision to scrap transfer of land to the Amarnath shrine board.

H.A. Siddiqui, the general secretary of the Jammu-based Muslim Federation, slammed the government for reversing its decision.

“Why should there be a problem with land allotment to the board? We appreciate the role of the BJP and other parties fighting for the land,” Siddiqui said.

Several other Muslim voices in the recently created Reasi district went public with their support for the saffron cause.

“Why did the government give the land to the board in the first place and, after it did, why was the order revoked? This is pure politicking…. We want the land restored to the board,” said Ghulam Nabi Malik, a member of the Jama Masjid in Reasi.

“Such dirty politics hurts people like us who live in a minority,” he added.

The Muslim voices, though few, have brought cheer to the saffron camp.

“We welcome those Muslims who have supported the agitation,” said BJP chief Rajnath Singh, who arrived in Jammu today to take stock of the situation after five days of protests.

Singh said the issue concerned the entire country and wasn’t merely a religious matter. “If we have a say in the next government, we will reverse the order.”

Violence has raged across Hindu-majority Jammu since the Congress-led state government backed down under pressure and scrapped the order to transfer forest land to the shrine board after Muslim protesters shut down Kashmir for a week.

Yesterday, Gujjar Muslims were prevented from offering prayers at a mosque in Akhnoor and a Tricolour was forcibly unfurled on the shrine by Hindu groups. Several Gujjar houses were set on fire.

Saffron groups, however, want to take on board Muslims, too, in their agitation because the community, though a minority in Jammu, has majority presence in five of 10 districts in the region.