http://anuraggangal.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/baba-amarnath-movement-in-jammu-achievements-and-prospects/
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Douse the flames in Jammu & Kashmir: CPI(M)
Douse the flames in Jammu & Kashmir: CPI(M) Special Correspondent
“RSS-BJP combine using the land row to whip up communal passions”
UPA government urged to initiate dialogue
with Sangharsh Samiti
NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday accused the RSS-BJP combine of utilising the Amarnath land row in Jammu and Kashmir to “whip up communal passions” in a bid to consolidate its ‘Hindu vote bank.’
“Communal passions are being sharply aroused with rumours spreading like wildfire about the Hindus not being allowed to undertake the yatra. Likewise, extremist elements in the valley are also whipping up passions,” an editorial in the coming issue of the party’s weekly organ People’s Democracy said.
The editorial warned that such a conflagration with a very dangerous potential to undermine the unity and integrity of India was being created to reap electoral and political benefits.
It cautioned that the Amarnath row may create a “fertile ground” for cross-border terrorism to raise its “ugly head.”
The editorial said a similar decision in 2005 to rescind the order of transferring forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board did not create any controversy.
“The fact that it [decision to revoke transfer of land to the Board] has led to a raging agitation today clearly points to the fact that this has been mounted keeping in view the coming elections to the State Assembly in October and the general elections in early 2009.
“In the interests of our country’s unity and integrity, in the interests of our country’s communal and social harmony and in the interests of safeguarding and strengthening the secular democratic character of the modern Indian republic, it is imperative that the incendiary flames of this communally-charged movement be doused urgently,” it said.
“Suspend agitation”
With the participation of the BJP leadership, the UPA government must immediately initiate a dialogue with the Sangharsh Samiti. The agitation must be suspended till a solution was found, the editorial suggested.
The CPI(M) also discounted the “widely circulated belief” that the land allocated to the shrine board was withdrawn under pressure from the people of the Kashmir valley. “Ownership of the forest land cannot be transferred under law. However, the government can permit a change in the land use. Earlier, the State government had allocated some land to the Board to provide facilities to the yatra pilgrims. Since this had become a controversy, the new Governor of the State [N.N. Vohra] withdrew his predecessor’s decision with an assurance from the State government that it would undertake the responsibility of providing all the required facilities for the pilgrims,” the party said.
“These are, indeed, being provided now by the Jammu and Kashmir government and the yatra continues to proceed smoothly today,” it said.
Isolate communal forces: Tarigami
Shujaat Bukhari reports from Srinagar
CPI(M) State secretary M.Y. Tarigami on Thursday described the present situation in Jammu and Kashmir as highly critical and called for isolating the communal forces.
In a statement, Mr. Tarigami said communal forces with vested interests were exploiting the passions of the people for electoral gains. He appealed to the people to remain calm and uphold their age-old traditions of tolerance and brotherhood.
Condemning the attacks and assaults on “innocent Kashmiri drivers, minorities of Jammu” and the economic blockade of Kashmir, Mr. Tarigami asked the State and the Central governments to ensure quickly the safety and security of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
He also urged that complaints of partisan and complacent attitude of some officers should be looked into and the guilty, if any, be punished.
He appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to look into complaints of harassment of Kashmiri truckers and looting of the trucks and punish the guilty.
Senior National Conference leader and former Minister, Mian Altaf Ahmed, said in a statement that the State government had miserably failed to provide adequate security and safety to the Gujjars of Jammu region. The State is passing through a phase of chaos and lawlessness which is dangerous for our pluralistic society.
State Cultivation of the Amarnath Yatra
Kashmir:
State Cultivation of the Amarnath Yatra
by Gautam Navlakha
State Cultivation of the Amarnath Yatra
by Gautam Navlakha
The origins of the conflagration in June in Kashmir on forest land allocation for construction of facilities for the Amarnath yatra lie in open state promotion of the pilgrimage. The yatra has caused considerable damage to the economy and ecology of the area. The high-handed actions of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board only aggravated the situation.
The Amarnath pilgrimage erupted into a major controversy last month entirely on account of the actions of the state. The Act setting up the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) was passed by the National Conference government in 2001. On January 1, 2008, the SASB informed the legislature of Jammu and Kashmir, through a letter to the deputy chief minister, that "(t)he Governor is sovereign ex-officio holder of the power . . . who acts on his own personal satisfaction and not on the aid and advice of the council of ministers . . . the member (of the legislative council) may be explained that he does not enjoy the powers to question the decisions of the body" (Greater Kashmir, June 12, 2008).
Disconcertingly, the SASB, when presided over by S K Sinha when he was governor, has been engaged in some controversial transactions. The chief executive officer (CEO) of the SASB is the principal secretary to the governor. The CEO's wife, in her capacity as principal secretary of the forest department, granted permission to the SASB on May 29, 2005 to use forest land for the pilgrimage. Because this action was not in accordance with the provision of the J&K Forest Conservation Act of 1997, the state government withdrew the order. However, a division bench of the J&K High Court stayed the withdrawal of permission to occupy forest land. But when in mid-2008, the state cabinet gave its approval to "divert" 40 ha of forest land for the yatra the issue erupted into widescale public protests. The deputy chief minister, belonging to the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), went so far as to claim that Congress ministers "blackmailed" them into giving this approval (Indian Express, June 16, 2008).
The Indian state has often used the yatra to promote a certain kind of nationalism. During the Kargil war, in 1999, the Press Information Bureau put out a press release stating: "(the) yearning for moksha (salvation) can move the devotees to the challenging heights of Kashmir and will be a fitting gesture of solidarity with our valiant soldiers who have been fighting the enemy to defend our borders" ('Amarnath Yatra - 99 Acid Test of Devotion', 15-July 15, 1999).
A Little Known Shrine
Thus, what is otherwise a religious pilgrimage of the shaivite Hindus has been elevated to represent a patriotic enterprise. What is interesting is that the translator of Rajtarangini, Aurel Stein, found no reference in 1888 in either the Rajtarangini or the Nilmata Purana to the Amarnath cave. For Kashmiri Hindus the holiest site was the Haramukuta (Shiva's Diadem) and Haramukh-Gangabal pilgrimage (see M Ashraf, 'Aggression at Its Worst', Greater Kashmir, June 20, 2008). The cave was in fact discovered in the 18th century and a Gujjar family and its descendants who found it were given the right to a share of the offering as a consequence. Even until the 1980s, this pilgrimage was not well known and in 1989, only 12,000 pilgrims visited the cave in a fortnight of pilgrimage. It is only after 1996 that the Amarnath cave acquired its prominence when militancy in Kashmir was at its peak.
The SASB is headed by the governor (until recently S K Sinha, a former lt general in the army) and his principal secretary, from the Indian Administrative Service, is the CEO of the SASB. Thus when the SASB pushes for movement of a larger and larger number of pilgrims and rejects the right of the legislators to even raise a question regarding the functioning of the SASB, the Indian state is sending a simple message.
Imagine if a Muslim governor of Rajasthan were to ask to set up an independent Ajmer Sharief Dargah development authority, with say, control over a large part of Ajmer city. What would be the response of Rajasthan's BJP government or the right wing Hindutva rabble-rousers?
Ironically, it is the deposed custodian of the shrine Deependra Giri who has been crying hoarse over SASB's promotion of pilgrimage as tourism, flouting the principle of penance inherent in such pilgrimages as laid down in the Hindu scriptures! The point is this promotion of Amarnath can be faulted on temporal, religious and secular grounds. In other words it is downright duplicitous when the Indian state promotes religious tourism (tourism in any event) in the guise of the welfare of Hindu pilgrims. This is an extension and/or part of the process of acquisition of a huge mass of land (orchard and cultivable fields, including the precious saffron fields of Pampore) by Indian security forces and water management and control through the National Hydro Power Corporation.
Implications
The implications are far-reaching. The SASB runs a virtually parallel administration and acts as a "sovereign body" promoting Hindu interests, increasing the number of pilgrims from 12,000 in 1989 to over 4,00,000 in 2007 and extending the period of the pilgrimage from 15 days to two and half months (the first fortnight is meant for families of service personnel). The SASB has virtually taken over the functioning of the Pahalgam Development Authority, laying claims to forest lands and constructing shelters and structures even on the Pahalgam Golf Course!
As part of the latest instances of land grab the SASB received the approval of the state government on June 3, 2008 to transfer 800 kanals of forest land. And it wanted another 3,200 kanals. The SASB has also staked claims to set up an "independent" Amarnath Development Authority between Nunwan, Pahalgam, and Baltal (ahead of Sonmarg). It is true that the state government shot down this proposal and has publicly claimed that only temporary structures can be set up in the 800 kanals, but two things should be kept in mind. Firstly, the brazen manner in which the SASB has gone about staking its claims. Secondly, but for public anger it is doubtful if the state government would have found the courage to oppose the demands of the SASB. It has not done anything to prevent or rollback the annexation of parts of Pahalgam Golf Course in order to provide security for pilgrims. If it were not for the widespread protests in Kashmir and the PDP's withdrawal from the government, the new governor of Jammu and Kashmir would not have been compelled to revoke his predecessor's order.
Environmental Damage
Be that as it may, probably the most damning evidence against the SASB and its dangerous exclusivist policy is the damage being caused to the environment in and around Pahalgam. A noted environmentalist told Greater Kashmir (June 10, 2008) that "The yatris during their Amarnath yatra do not only defecate on the banks of the Lidder river but throw tonnes of non-degradable items like polythene, plastic items directly into the river. This has resulted in the deterioration of its water quality." One expert, M R D Kundangar, told Greater Kashmir that "(t)he chemical oxygen demand of the Lidder has been recorded between 17 and 92 mg/l which is beyond the permissible level. Such enriched waters with hazardous chemicals ranges can no way be recommended for potable purposes. It has crossed all permissible limits due to flow of sewage and open defecation. Lidder has been turned into a cesspool."
It has been estimated that every day during the pilgrimage 55,000 kg of waste is generated. Apart from this waste, the degradation caused by buses and vehicles carrying pilgrims, trucks carrying provisions and massive deployment of security forces contributes further to air pollution. Another fallout is the threat posed to local inhabitants from crowding of the ecologically fragile area where they have to compete to retain their access and rights to resources, both water and land.
Indeed such was the arrogance and clout of the previous governor that he sent an ordinance to the state government to establish Shardapeeth University in Baghat Kanipora in Srinagar. Prominent jurist A G Noorani was constrained to point out to Greater Kashmir (June 9, 2008) that this move of the governor was "unheard of in parliamentary democracy". General Sinha would have gotten away with this had it not been for the fact that state coalition government did not have enough time to promulgate this while he was still the governor. The same governor, who also headed the Shri Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, had also created a special facility for rich Hindu pilgrims visiting Vaishno Devi by paying an additional Rs 200-500. Had it not been for the strike by residents and ordinary pilgrims in Katra this decision would not have been withdrawn.
The special time allocated for the pilgrimage to the armed forces personnel, the acquisition of land, introduction of helicopter services (which causes its own attendant problems), crowding of the area and slowly pushing out local people from these locations because of the environmental degradation or because their livelihood is adversely affected (for example consider the protests by the Pahalgambased tourism industry for squeezing them out), all pose a huge challenge.
Limits in Gangotri
Significantly, even the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttarakhand on May 1, 2008 limited the number of pilgrims visiting Gangotri and Goumukh to 150 persons per day so as to protect the fragile ecology of the area. Yet, in the case of Amarnath, and despite overwhelming evidence of environmental degradation posed by the huge increase in the number of pilgrims and large number of security forces deployed for protection of such pilgrims, there is no one who dares challenge the SASB's stubborn extension of the yatra. Indeed if the CEO of SASB is to be believed since "the population of India will increase we will have to consider further extension of the yatra period".
Arguably, when the yatra was halted between 1991 and 1996 due to the threat by a section of the militants it played into the hands of the extreme right wing elements in Indian society who have since then played an integral role in mobilising large numbers of pilgrims. However, it is equally important to note that earlier, schoolchildren and college youth used to act as volunteers and provide assistance to the yatris. Even when this was discontinued after 1996, the main indigenous militant organisation the Hizbul Mujahideen and Muslim Janbaz Force always supported the yatra and consistently demonstrated its opposition towards those who tried to disrupt it. And even today there is no section of people who opposes the yatra. What they resent is the horrendously jingoistic turn that it has taken under the SASB.
Verily the more things change more they remain the same.
Text of agreement between Governor's panel and SAYSS
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Jammu, Aug 31 (NAK): The Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (SAYSS) which was leading agitation over land row in Jammu has called off two months old agitation after it entered into an agreement with the four member panel appointed by the Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra. The main demands are related to the withdrawal of criminal cases against various persons during the period of agitation provisions of compensation to the families of the deceased and to the injured and working out of appropriate package of financial assistance to the traders and transporters who suffer damages during the agitation period.
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Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The "Big-fight" - Dirty Games Uncovered
15/08/2008 21:46:01 By VEDAPRAKASH
The "Big-fight" on the transfer and revocation of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB)
The Amarnath land transfer controversy :
The following events prove the dirty political games played by the Congress and the Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists just to fool the entire nation, under the guise of winning "vote of confidence" at one side and trying to harass Hindus in J & K and kill Hindus elsewhere through Islamic terrorists. Incidentally, these events are coincided with LOC infiltration, firing and encounters between the Indian forces and Pakistani counterparts and of course Pak-trained terrorists [1] . Read the events.
15-07-1999 :
Amarnath Yatra was disturbed [2] in 1999.
2001 :
The National Conference Government passed the Act to set up Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
29-05-2005 :
The government withdrew the order for the usage of forest land by the pilgrims, as it was against the provision of the J & K Forest Conservation Act of 1997.
The J & K High Court stayed the withdrawal of permission to use the forest land.
January 1, 2008 :
The SASB informed the legislature of Jammu and Kashmir, through a letter to the deputy chief minister, that "(t)he Governor is sovereign ex-officio holder of the power . . . who acts on his own personal satisfaction and not on the aid and advice of the council of ministers . . . the member (of the legislative council) may be explained that he does not enjoy the powers to question the decisions of the body". [3]
20-05-2008 :
The J & K government rejected the transfer of land in Baltal to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) for construction of road and raising hutments on it at various points, however giving "clearance" to blacktopping of Ronga-Baltal road. The state cabinet, which met here on Tuesday (20-05-2008), rejected the Board's suggestion to construct a road from Baltal to Dumel and raise hutments along the route. The hutments were supposed to be raised for Amarnath pilgrims, a charge refuted by SASB. The cabinet rejected transferring the land on the ground that it fell in a wildlife area and its transfer would invite "adverse judicial notice." The land falls in compartment 62 which is a wildlife area and could not be transferred to the Board without sanction from Supreme Court of India, they added.
25-06-2008 :
N. N. Vohra [4] took over as a Governor and Immediately after his swearing-in, he conferred with Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) officials and was informed that not a single permanent structure had been constructed in the base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal or enroute to the cave Shrine. to transfer 39.88 hectares of forest land to SASB.
26-05-2008 :
The Secretary, Tourism was acting as the CEO of the Shrine Board, pointed out that all the toilets and camping facilities were constructed on government land and nobody objected. It was only when the bribe channels were stopped for the politicians' protégés that they objected to government land being used for pilgrims. Hence, after the stay was obtained from the High Court, the Shrine Board asked the state government in 2005 to regularise use of government land by formally transferring a few plots of land to the board en route to the Amarnath shrine. It took three years to take a decision and finally on May 26, 2008, the state cabinet passed a proposal diverting (not selling or leasing) 38 hectares of land near Baltal to the Shrine Board on a temporary basis at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore vide Government order No. 184-FST of 2008 dated 26-05-2008. The Minister of Forest, under whose jurisdiction the land was diverted for the Shrine Board's use, was a member of the PDP headed by Mufti.
27-05-2008 :
The President inaugurated the "Institute of Kashmir studies" at the University of Kashmir, Srinagar! N. Ram was there [5] .
03-06-2008 :
The State Government approved the transfer of 800 kanals of forest land to SASB (which was dubbed as "land grab" by Gautham).
15-06-2008 :
Muzaffar Hussain Baig, the Dy. CM accused two senior Congress Ministers – Mangat Ram Sharma and Gulchain Singh Charak of "blackmailing' them into transferring forest land to the SASB [6] .
28-06-2008 :
The People's Democratic Party has withdrawn its support from the Jammu and Kashmir] government. All ministers from the party submitted their resignations to Governor N N Vohra on Saturday evening (28-06-2008), party president Mehbooba Mufti told mediapersons. Mehbooba said, "We had given a deadline to the chief minister to rescind the controversial land allotment order to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board. From his attitude, it appears that the Chief Minister Ghulam] Nabi Azad was in no mood to address the aspiration of the people in this regard,"
29-06-2008 :
Next day, Vohra, in his capacity as ex-officio chairman of the SASB, wrote a letter to Azad, returning the land and also offering to relinquish the board's task of organising the annual yatra, thus making the pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine subordinate to the valley's Muslims politics and Muslim appeasement. Vohra reportedly sent his letter to Azad at 8.30 pm on June 28. "The news of that abject surrender provoked an explosion of outrage across Jammu," says a senior member of the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti, a broad-based organisation without any political affiliation which is at the forefront of the protest. The governor has violated the SASB Act. As he cannot act unilaterally. Any decision of the board has to be endorsed by at least five members of the Board. He is also in contempt of the high court which had passed an interim order approving the transfer of 800 kanals of land to the board in Baltal.
01-07-2008 :
The government order transferring 100 acres of land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board was revoked by the Jammu and Kashmir government in Srinagar on Tuesday (01-07-2008) to defuse the snowballing situation in the Valley over the past week, which claimed four lives besides injuring 300 others. The decision to annul the order was taken by the state cabinet which met at the residence of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad immediately after his return from Mumbai.
07-07-2008 :
Gulam Nabi Azad, the Congress CM resigned.
13-7-2008 :
The protest of around 150 Kashmiri Hindus gathered at the cantonment park on Sunday when the Kashmiri Hindu Sabha, in Pune, that took out a protest march to the collector's office against the decision of the Jammu and Kashmir government to revoke the transfer of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). It put forth a set of demands. It wants the government to reinstate the powers of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Boardthat was dissolved after the revocation of the land transfer order. The land transferred to the SASB was in a bid set up tents and make conditions more conducive for travel for the pilgrims," The members have also called for the reopening of the Wandhama case of 1998, when 23 people were shot dead calling for a CBI intervention into the case, as the government has also been adopting double standards in handling the protests of both communities, granting subsidies to the Muslim community for Haj, but revoking the transfer of land to the Amarnath board.
26-07-2008 : Gautham Navalakha writes[7] an article against the Amarnath yatra etc., interpreting that it was promoted to support "Hindu chauvinism" and so on.
Understanding issue :
To understand the background, Indians have to understand the context of land transfer took place. In May, 2008, the government of India and state government of Jammu and Kashmir reached an agreement to transfer 100 acres of forestland to the Amarnath board, which organises the annual Amarnath yatra. The land is for the usage to build facilities for Amarnath pilgrims as lakhs of pilgrims make the journey every year. Some environmentalists argued that the land transfer would hamper the region's delicate ecological balance. There were also reports that the SASB was planning to construct dams across River Indus to generate electricity for the shrine. One of the reasons behind the controversy is the government policy of bringing religious bodies under the state's control. The Governor heads the Hindu shrine boards and the chief minister heads the Muslim Wakfs, in other words, the appointed Governor is a Hindu and the CM a Muslim.
Political orientation as expected :
The protests, took a more political tinge as State elections are scheduled to be held later this year. The People's Democratic Party said that it would withdraw support to the Congress-led State government if it did not revoke the land transfer agreement. The opposition National Conference and the Communist Party-Marxist (CPM) - have also opposed the transfer of land. BJP said that it would hold widespread protests in Jammu if the decision to revoke the agreement is made. Now the state is polarized, as the discourse has become an issue of Kashmiris vs non-Kashmiris and Hindus vs. Muslim.
Hindus have been on the receiving end :
The "separatist groups" say the transfer of land to the Shrine Board is part of a "conspiracy to settle non-local Hindus in the valley with a view to reducing the Muslims to a minority". The "separatist groups" as has been mentioned secularly, have been only jihadi and Islamic terrorists who have been fighting against Indian government and driving away Hindus or the so-called "Kashmiri Pundits" out of their own State. The controversy has led to unity among the Mohammedan separatists – "the hardline and the moderate factions" of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) - have decided to carry out a joint campaign against the land transfer. Two people were killed and seventy-five injured when police fired into a crowd in Srinagar protesting the transfer of forested land. In addition to protesters, some Hindu pilgrims making pilgrimage to Amarnath were also injured when mobs attacked their vehicles with rocks. Angry rioters also threw rocks at vehicles in the cities of Anantnag, Shopian, Pulwama, Bandipora and Baramulla. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which planned the protests, were placed under house arrest.
In Jammu, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists orchestrated counter-protests, supportive of the land transfer, and threatened to shut down the city on 26 June. 20 kilometers away, in Nagrota, BJP supporters blocked a highway and burned tyres. Throughout the Srinagar area, most public buildings, including schools and government offices, along with many businesses have remained closed. India moved hundreds of security forces into the region with Indian authorities restoring the Amarnath pilgrimage route after a brief disruption. As the land transfer controversy has become an occasion for all sides to trade communal allegations, many believe It has more to do with the Kashmiri sub nationalism where every move aimed at the transfer of land to non-state subjects has been opposed.
Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti :
The NDTV's description of the Samiti [8] : "At the centre of the Jammu and Kashmir divide is a little known group called the Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti. It is a group of about 28 social and political outfits like the Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Transport Union and even the Jammu Bar Association. Protests of the Samiti were somewhat low-key in the beginning, that is early July. The agitation gathered strength only after the suicide of one protestor." Thus, it is evident that NDTV has been biased against the Samiti, as it does not analyze other organizations, which have been creating problems and killing people for so many years in India. In fact, in the said-above program, Gautham Navalkhar is introduced as a Social activist", though, he has been a "communist ideologist", pro-separatist Islamic movements and anti-Hindu.
"Action Committee against Land Transfer" :
This pro-Pakistani anti-Indian outfit called off its strike, the moment the land allotment to the Shrine Board was cancelled on July 1, 2008 and its chairman – Mian Abdul Qayoom [9] asked people to resume "normal live" declaring it as a "victory". The NDTV or Gautham Navalkar do not whisper about this organization or why they should oppose. That the tourism department would get the land and it would provide facilities for yatris and all prove the intention o the government actually facilitates the Mohammedan parties of all shades to such money from the Hindus. They have already collected Rs. 2.5 crores from the SASB. Incidentally, when all this drama was going on, the Pakistani troops were firing at the so-called LOC and 11 militants were reported to be killed in encounter [10] . On July 4th, 2008 (Friday), Shabir Ahmed and other separatist and anti-national elements celebrated the "victory" near the Hazratbal. The Hindu [11] gloriously publishes a photo showing that he was "manhandled". However, none cared for the Hindus killed or hundreds of them injured, got fractured and taken to hospital. No photos of Hindu women crying, Hindu children running for life, Hindu old-men clasping hands with request to protect their lives. This has been the ant-Hindu reporting of the print and electronic media.
NDTV' "Big-fight" program (09-08-2008) :
NDTV started on the issue of J & K Big-fight naming it as "Big-peace" reportedly bringing both sides of the divide for discussion. It has become an eye-opener for a general Indian to understand the persons who participated in the program, which has been edited and controlled as I could note from the clippings joined together [12] , voices coming, but cameras focussed on different persons [13] etc.
The participants were:
1. Muzaffar Hussain Baig - Former Dy. CM of Jammu & Kashmir, PDP.
2. Leela Karan Sharma – Convenor Amarnath Sangark samiti (through video conference)
3. Dr. Farooq Abdullah, NC and for CM (through video conference)
4. Sabir shah, Youriat Conference, separatist leader (through video conference)
5. Kamal Kak – representing Kashmiri Pundits.
6. Gautham Navalkha[14], Social activist.
Farooq: The question of land but beyond. There has been discrimination with Jammu and some people want division of Jammu. Now some people want to agitate all over India. What they want? Do they want to burn whole India. Sengupta commission report recommends the number of yatris should be restricted. The land was there, but unfortunately the last government ordered the land transfer and withdrew.
Baig: The people of J & K have understanding since 1947. There are living together. Now the problem started only because Samiti asked for the land.
Sharma: SASB asked for the land, writ was filed in High Court and it ordered to transfer. But you are the Law Minister (addressed to Baig) and your government filed appeal against the order. The Forest Minister of PDP allowed the transfer. Then, why you changed the stand? Is it not criminal agenda? You are supporting the separatists – under pressure. You are supporting them who are shouting " Indian dogs go back", "Pakistan jindabad" and so on.
Baig: The Court made interim order to make available on temporary basis – since 1860, the yatris have customary right – but the secretary transferred on permanent basis. Shrine board should withdraw the claim of land
Sharma: the original order should be restored. We want restoration of order and not revocation (NDTV suggest that he does not want the permanent transfer, while he was talking!)
Baig: why can't they trust the government? I was not a party of the revocation of the order.
Sharma: That does not satisfy. The Board was constituted Rs. 2.5 crores on licence basis and Rs. 19,94,000/- (Rs. Nineteen lacs ninety-four thousand only) on account of Compensatory Afforestation to be carried over 79.96 ha. land.
Baig: It is interpretation of the order. They interpret it as sale then I oppose it.
Sabir Shah: we have seen secularists and others in Hindusthan [15] . The yatra has been going on and land was there for them at their disposal and now also available, then why they want land? They burn houses. They want to burn...(started talking about ) "Sangh Parivar" role in the issue.
Sharma: (Refuted that) Sangh Parivar is not involved.
Sabir: they were burning houses
Both started arguing simultaneously
Sharma: No economic blockade. Call for bandh / "Chakka dhan" Jammu, Udhampur and areas are suffering. Army is cutting of the supply and the people are suffering there.
NDTV: Putting leading questions
Sabir shah: Note the role of army in dealing with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The vehicles of the Muslims are burned. There firing and tear-gas.
NDTV: points out that firing of army were there in Jammu.
Sabir shah: went on arguing that land is there already and available to the yatras. The Muslims help yatris therefore do not insist for the transfer.
Sharma: they want the minority community to migrate they do not want Hindus there. During Amarnath yatra, grenades were thrown by the terrorists.
Baig: Politically motivated position has been created.
Baig": The President of BJP declared that they would make the people of Kashmir to starve. Then, what they would do? We are short of medicine...Naturally, they would look across the border.
Sharma: refuted the point of economic blockade. It is only bandh. If they are suffering how is that they are still fighting with the government?
NDTV: the economic blockade is serious. Otherwise the people of Kashmir would look across the LOC. The national high way life-line connects the state with India. You know and I know there are people who make irresponsible statements (evidently, the NDTV was suggesting "deliberate economic blockade").
Kamal Hak: When Kashmir closes for months together that amounts to economic blockade. When Kashmir was closed for many months, it was like the blockade. (Baig started interfering stating that it is done by the militants [16] ). The Governor clarified that there is no official economic blockade. It is only the result of the on-going bandh. They are trying to camouflage the whole thing and they are basically trying to mislead the whole nation on the subject from the people. What is the wrong in transferring the land of 40 or 80 kanals of land how it affects the constitution, Kashmir polity, ... if you can allot land Islamic University in Kashmir ,if could allot Grahshah Badshah University Rajouri why can't you allot land to........(Baig interferes)
Baig: what about land given to Matha Vaishadevi
Kamal: but you have not allotted land to Sharadadevi University
Baig: it was done by legislative not by the government –
Kamal Hak: Voice is coming, but camera was focussing on Gautham.
The voice: Even though, you were ruling, you took five years for giving the land!
Gautham navalakha: (interfering Kamal and NDTV) that not 40 or 50, but thousands of kanals are used by the yatris. No forest land was transferred to Islamic or Badsha Universities. 3000 yatris . In the case of allotment to Universities, no forest land was allotted. (He started stressing on the regulation of yatris on the Nitish Sen gupta commission). It is not just yatra but High mountain climbing -
Sharma: pointing out the pseudo-secular nature of his argument.
Sharma and Gautham started talking together Gautham was interfering Sharma..
Sharma: you are supporting the separatists. 15 years was there any police-firing
Gautham: How can I support Pundits? They say that the land should be handed over to kashmiri pandits – who are you to ask to transfer the land he asks Sharma
NDTV: Short or medium term solution
Faroog: Committees have been formed by PM and governor. They would talk and find out a solution.
Baig: There should be a "All party meeting" comprising politicians and educationalists – If BJP really plays a construction role it is welcome
Sharma: the separatists have no role . the centre to come out clean without supporting the separatist forces
Sabir Shah: They set fire – land has been there for them. We have been helping them. But the so-called Sarkar act differently- it has been going for years. they are killing people .............
NDTV: Heaven-sent opportunity
Baig: They are narrowed down the issue solidified
Kamal: transfer the land to the Samiti, they are not allowing Hindus in Kashmir, they are preventing Pundits to live there. They are not allowing hindus to go back. They are not allowing Hindus there.
NDTV: (asks directly )why Hindu influence is prevented
Sabir: yatrir tourists can come –they can buy land in Jammu they can buy land in Kashmir Kashmir pundits can come they can "hum ajadhi ke ladai lad rahe hai"
Kamal: rhetoric please come. At one side, he is talking about the right of Hindus etc., but at the other side he talks about "fighting with the government". We Hindus are part and parcel of India and we need not fight with India.
Sabir: you have every right
Gautham: bringing the issue of Kashmiri pundits pitting against Misl;ims –is highly objectionable
Kamal and Gautham started arguing with each other.Kamal Haq points out that Gautham was misinterpreting the facts).
Gautham: Ecological issue, no. Of yatris to be regulated
The oldman (from audience): The question is not the ownership of the land. The expulsion of pundits is incorrect – let the jihadis do that, let the militants do that – you are making army to fight with Indians – instead of protecting Indians, they are fighting with Indians - ecomic blockade has to be stopped
Rajesh Kaul : national sentiments against anti-national sentiments – tricolour holding and burning tricolour – this is national movement
A young girl: talks in general
Youth (man): agitation is slipping out of hands – should let the issue into fire of riots.
Youth (woman): why Kashmiri pundits is coming now? Why can't people deal with current problems.
NDTV: asking for final comment from the panellists
Farooq: All live here – maintaining communal harmony.
Gautham: I just read out from the Nitish Sen Gupta report: 1996 strategy, he points out that Muslims helped yatris. No allegation eve-teasing, bad behaviour etc. there are lot of myth about Kashmir - Kashmir He criticises pseudo-nationalism (pointing to Rajesh Kaul) with rationality, reason and logic
Kamal: You allow anti-nationalism, you allow Pakistan flag you allow militant activities – you allowed shouting of slogans "Pakistan jindabad, Hindustan murdabad"..... (Gautham interferes). Amarnath is not the issue (NDTV and Gautham interferes)
Baig: I have been attacked four times by the militants Pointing to Sharma that he enjoys life sitting with comfort and security in Jammu; we are hurt when they say we are anti-nationals we have to live and die together – they should stop asking for the title - why ask for the title –
Sabir – repeats the same (addresses "the people of Hindusthan") – you believe us - the land is yours, you can sit on it – and so on – we are secularists by nature - talks in separatist tone and tenor.
Sharma: (before talking NDTV interferes) Jammu people suffered for 60 years – black mailed India, Pakistan, Indians – they cannot be believed – they deprive the yatris by denying the land
NDTV: Is there any final compromise
Sharma: what compromise you want - Shrine has been formed under the statue – where is the question of cancelling
NDTV: If facilities given why ask for land
Sharma: now they may give but later, they ask to vacate through army.
(For this, NDTV did not respond, but decides to end the program).
Government Order No. 184—FST OF 2008 Dated: 26-05-2008 [17] :
Sanction is accorded to the diversion of forest land measuring 39.88 ha falling under compartment No. 63a/Sindh, in Block Kullan, Range Sindh, Sindh Forest Division for raising pre-fabricated structures only for camping purposes of pilgrims, without going in for construction of permanent structures, at Baltal and Domail by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board on the following terms and conditions:
1. The proprietary status of forest land shall remain unchanged.
2. The forest land so diverted shall be used only for the purpose for which it has been diverted. It shall not be transferred to any other agency without approval of the Forest Department.
3. The forest land so diverted shall not be mortgaged, reassigned or sub-leased by user agency in any manner what so ever to any other agency.
4. The User Agency shall pay Net Present Value of the forest land to the tune of Rs. 2,31,30, 400/- (Rs Two crore thirty-one lacs thirty thousand four hundred only) as calculated by the concerned DFO as per Hon'ble Supreme Court Order dated 30-10-2002 in I.A No: 566 in Writ Petition (Civil) No: 202 of 1995 T.N. Godavarman Thirumalpad V/S Union of India.
5. The User Agency shall pay Rs. 19,94,000/- (Rs. Nineteen lacs ninety-four thousand only) on account of Compensatory Afforestation to be carried over 79.96 ha.6. The user agency shall take foolproof measures on modern scientific lines to ensure that any water of nearby Sindh Nallah does not get polluted.
7. Any damage done to the forest by the user agency or its employees and contractors or people employed by them shall be charged from the user agency at the rate of ten times the standard rate of 1992.
8. The forest land so diverted shall return to the Forest Department free of any encumbrances when it is no longer required by the User Agency.
9. The user agency shall construct complete retaining/breast walls on the both sides of the road/railway/ earth work/ tunnelling etc, and take other necessary steps, so as to minimize soil erosion/land slips. In this regard, the user agency shall seek technical guidance from Director, Soil Conservation Department, J&K.
10. The user agency shall also pay any other amount which will become payable as per orders of Hon'ble Supreme Court or Government/Forest Department, J&K.
11. The user agency shall be responsible to get requisite clearance under any other relevant law in vogue.
12. The user agency shall submit an undertaking that in case of any upward revision of rates of Net Present Value, the user agency will pay the amount of differential Net Present Value.
13. The possession of Forest land diverted for non-forestry purpose under the orders of the competent authority, should not be handed over to the user agency till all payments due against Compensation of trees, NPV/Compensation of land, Compensatory afforestation costs etc are not deposited with Chief Accounts Officer in the office of the PCCF.
The revocation of order by the Governor was hailed as "victory" by the separatist organizations [18] .
Observation on the NDTV [19] show :
I have carefully watched the video [20] many times and it appears clearly that the show broadcast as been completely edited, many portions cut and brought as suitable for `broadcast". Vikram Chandra [21] was interfering Sharma and Kamal Hak repeatedly by putting some questions, however, he was appreciating and complimenting Gautham and Baig. As camera was focused on different person and voice was coming, it is evident that just like Tehelka, they are manipulating the recording and broadcast. The NDTV's comments on Amarnath Sangarsha Samiti [22] , the background of Gautham Navalakhar (his pro-seperatist support ideology, EPW writings etc), Vikram Chandra's attitude clearly prove that they have been biased against Hindus. It is ironical that they do not want to discuss the sufferings of the pundits. Though, very often they dub them also as "Kashmiris", they make others to forget that they are Hindus, but they have been and are still treated as "refugees" in their own state and country. The attack on them, making them to leave their crores of properties, many of their men, women and children have been hunted and killed by the Islamic separatists and terrorists, and everything, they want not be mentioned or talked. Why the simple issue of buying and selling of land should be made bigh issue, they are not analyzing. As a citizen of India, any person who has money buys land and none objects,. But why here, the Big-fight etc? Though, the learned people talk about ecology, environment etc., they are benumbed about the rights of Hindus.
The environmental and ecological issues / secularism! :
Wherever and whenever, hundreds or thousands of people gather, their waste would be produced and thrown out. It happens at cinema, cricket and political meetings and tamashas. Much water is wasted in Star hotels, while millions do not get water even for daily routines. However, when the question pilgrimage etc., comes, experts start talking about these issues. It is well known fact that the vast area has been raped by the Islamic separatists and terrorists by their activities. Thus, their waste – shells, plastic items etc., could be found in the areas of valley and borders and accumulated in tonnes. But, the environmental and ecological pundits are not worried. When the question of "Pundits" comes, these Pundits would jump. When the question of human rights comes, these Pundits again forget Pundits, but support Islamists of all categories. What type of bias is it? Is there any secularism to be followed even in these issues?
Why the land should be charged instead of giving free?
In fact, a question arises as to why the land given on temporary basis, that too for religious purposes should be charged by the secular government? Can't it be given free for facilitating pilgrims? Huge Haj subsides are given by the secular government to the Mohammedans. Then, why they charge for temporary usage that too for one and half months 2.5 crores? Is it a type if "Jizya", as imposed by the Mohammedan / Mughal rulers? Why Gautham Navalakhar-type secularists forget history here?
VEDAPRAKASH
11-08-2008
[1] Secret skirmishes scar LoC, The Hindu June 13, 2008 (Front page report, Chennai edition).
[2] http://pib.myiris.com/features/article.php3?fl=b27271
[3] Greater Kashmir, June 12, 2008. Can be accessed at: http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=13_6_2008&ItemID=40&cat=1
[4] The Hindu welcomes his appointment editorially: The Hindu June 13, 2008, p.12.
Four LeT militants killed in J & K, The Hindu June 23, 2008, p.15.
LoC incident will help Pakistan rebut charge: Four Pakistan soldiers killed in an ambush by "miscreants", The Hindu June 23, 2008, p.16.
[5] The Hindu June 27, 2008, p.12.
[6] Congress blackmailed us to give land to shrine board: J-K Dy CM, see at: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/323208.html
[7] Gautham Navalakha, Kashmir: State cultivation of the Amarnath Yatra, Economic & Political Weekly, July 26, 2008, pp.17-18.
[8] http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080060266
[9] The Hindu July 2, 2008 (Front page report, Chennai edition).
[10] The Hindu July 3, 2008 (Front page report).
[11] The Hindu July 5, 2008, p.19.
[12] Many times, Leela Karan Sharma's speech was cut, interfered.
[13] Gautham Navalaka was shown, when the mediator (NDTV) voice is coming.
[14] See his articles to understand his mind: In his Kasmir: State Cultivation of Amarnath Yatra, he calls "A Little Known Shrine", thus putting blame on the Indian government. See: http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/navlakha080808.html . Gautam Navlakha is Consulting Editor of the Economic & Political Weekly . This article first appeared in the Economic & Political Weekly on 26 July 2008, pp. 17-18. It is reproduced here for educational purposes, to provide background information for the current development.
See, also, "Douse the Flames in Jammu & Kashmir: CPI(M)," The Hindu , 8 August 2008 - http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/08/stories/2008080861691200.htm ; and "Hindus and Muslims Clash in Jammu-Kashmir," Al Jazeera, 5 August 2008:
[15] He was talking as a separatist only without mincing words. However, it is ironical that the media and others give prominence to him.
[16] Thus the fact is not denied. In spite of the so-called Deliberate economic blockade":, how they could fight effectively?
[17] http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080806&fname=arif&sid=3
[18] http://etalaat.com/english/News/front-page/1287.html
[19] NBC Universal Inc., the American media and entertainment parent company of the NBC television channel, has reached an agreement with NDTV Networks – the holding company of New Delhi Television Ltd., India's largest private television-production company – to purchase a 26-percent stake in the media conglomerate for approximately $150 million.
[20] http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx?id=35754
[21] He is the Senior Editor of NDTV and serves as the CEO of NDTV Networks. NDTV Networks is the group company under which are companies like NDTV convergence, NDTV Labs, NDTV Imagine etc. Vikram studied at St. Stephen's College and at Oxford University, before training in broadcast journalism at the Mass Media Institute, Stanford University. He has been with NDTV since 1994, and lives in Delhi.
[22] http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080060266
Govt failed to give the right picture`
Q&A: Madan Lal Sharma
Aasha Khosa / New Delhi August 17, 2008, 2:35 IST
The stir against the revocation of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board is above political affiliations, Madan Lal Sharma, Congress Member of Parliament from Jammu, tells AASHA KHOSA
Why did the Jammu region flare up in such an unprecedented manner this time?The issue of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board was handled in a way which spread a lot of confusion. First, the people in Kashmir thought the land was being given to build residential colonies. And then the people of Jammu thought the land had been given back while the reality is that the land was allotted and withdrawn only on paper. The government failed to give the correct picture to the people.
But surely, the way Jammu has been boiling for one-and-a-half months now, it appears that the land issue was just a triggerYes, the anger had been simmering for a long time. Some recent instances made the people of the Jammu region suspicious of the Kashmiri leadership’s designs. The Ghulam Nabi Azad government, for example, wanted to sort out the humanitarian problem of some 300,000 West Pakistan refugees who had shifted to J&K during partition. They have been living in the Jammu region without civil or political rights. Azad wanted a consensus among the political parties on restoring their rights. But the leaders from Kashmir did not want to look beyond the valley and were together in opposing the move. They have been displaying a Kashmir-centric approach in all matters, which has made people in Jammu insecure about their future. Cabinet meetings have often ended with leaders from Kashmir putting their foot down on anything that benefits the Jammu region.
How are you, being a Congress leader, empathising with the agitationists in Jammu, when the BJP and its affiliates are said to be behind the movement.It’s a myth that a single party holds the strings of this agitation. I must admit that the spirit of the agitation in Jammu is unprecedented. This is a real peoples’ movement — a janandolan — which is way above political ideologies. No party can take credit or hope to reap the harvest of what is a peoples’ movement. What is happening in Jammu is amazing. Never before have I seen women from upper middle class families, villagers in remote border areas, doctors, youth, labourers, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, all chanting one slogan.
The Kashmiri leaders who spoke against Jammu in the Cabinet meetings can only be from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, which till recently was your ally.The PDP leaders have been uneasy ever since Azad started his tenure and were looking for an occasion to wriggle out of the government. They did it and it came as no surprise to us. However, it was a bit shocking to see that the PDP and the National Conference (NC), headed by Farooq Abdullah, were happily chanting the same slogans, this time against Jammu.
But today, the agitation in Jammu has led to a major crisis in Kashmir. What do you have to say about it?The mass protests in Kashmir are just diversionary tactics of the Kashmiri leaders — be they in Hurriyat, the PDP or the NC — to divert attention from the real issue of land transfer, which is linked with the sentiments of Jammuites. Leaders like Mehbooba Mufti, and the Hurriyat, are spreading poison by trying to provoke a communal divide in the Jammu region. This is highly irresponsible. The allegation of economic blockade is another trick they are using to divert attention. The fact is that the Centre, for the first time, was worried about the public sentiment in the Jammu region and the leaders were keen to work out an amicable solution.
Kashmiri leaders began to get nervous and started raising the bogey of economic blockade to provoke people into taking out massive protests.
But the valley did face an economic blockade for at least some timeThis is a fundamental difference between Jammu and Kashmir regions. In Jammu too the people have been suffering due to shortages and disruption of normal life for more than two-and-a-half months. They don’t complain as it is their own movement. The supplies to Kashmir would surely suffer due to the continuous bandh in Jammu, which is the gateway to Kashmir, but they should not call it an economic blockade. The fact is that trucks laden with supplies are going to Kashmir under army escorts while Jammu’s rural areas are the worst-hit and are not even complaining.
The divide between the Jammu and Kashmir regions seems too deep to be bridged. Do you see any reconciliation in the future?Probably no Kashmiri wants to remember the positive role Jammu had played when the valley was burning due to insurgency. The people of Jammu welcomed the refugees from Kashmir — both Hindus and Muslims — with open arms. Even today, all political leaders of Kashmir have built their houses in Jammu. Moreover, Jammu maintained peace and communal amity all these years despite the acts of provocation from the terrorists and the separatists in Kashmir. It’s time the Kashmiris learn to respect others’ sentiments. However, I believe the coming election will throw up a political solution to this chasm, which seems unbridgeable today.
The Centre ignored your suggestions that Governor NN Vohra be replaced. Do you feel betrayed?I still believe that shifting the governor will cool the tempers in Jammu. The perception in Jammu is that it was the governor, who, as head of the shrine board, wrote to the government that he does not need the land. Why should the Centre stand on prestige on this? The government should immediately revamp the Amarnath shrine board.
Is there any way you see the agitation in Jammu cooling in the wake of the dangerous situation in Kashmir?The leaders at the Centre are living in a make-believe world if they think so. One must travel across Jammu’s hinterland to feel the do-or-die sentiment behind this people’s movement. The people are very sure that they must not relent from their position as they have done in the past in “national interest.” This time, nobody is in a mood to sit quiet and suffer the dominating nature of Kashmiris. We have suffered it for 60 years.
Aasha Khosa / New Delhi August 17, 2008, 2:35 IST
The stir against the revocation of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board is above political affiliations, Madan Lal Sharma, Congress Member of Parliament from Jammu, tells AASHA KHOSA
Why did the Jammu region flare up in such an unprecedented manner this time?The issue of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board was handled in a way which spread a lot of confusion. First, the people in Kashmir thought the land was being given to build residential colonies. And then the people of Jammu thought the land had been given back while the reality is that the land was allotted and withdrawn only on paper. The government failed to give the correct picture to the people.
But surely, the way Jammu has been boiling for one-and-a-half months now, it appears that the land issue was just a triggerYes, the anger had been simmering for a long time. Some recent instances made the people of the Jammu region suspicious of the Kashmiri leadership’s designs. The Ghulam Nabi Azad government, for example, wanted to sort out the humanitarian problem of some 300,000 West Pakistan refugees who had shifted to J&K during partition. They have been living in the Jammu region without civil or political rights. Azad wanted a consensus among the political parties on restoring their rights. But the leaders from Kashmir did not want to look beyond the valley and were together in opposing the move. They have been displaying a Kashmir-centric approach in all matters, which has made people in Jammu insecure about their future. Cabinet meetings have often ended with leaders from Kashmir putting their foot down on anything that benefits the Jammu region.
How are you, being a Congress leader, empathising with the agitationists in Jammu, when the BJP and its affiliates are said to be behind the movement.It’s a myth that a single party holds the strings of this agitation. I must admit that the spirit of the agitation in Jammu is unprecedented. This is a real peoples’ movement — a janandolan — which is way above political ideologies. No party can take credit or hope to reap the harvest of what is a peoples’ movement. What is happening in Jammu is amazing. Never before have I seen women from upper middle class families, villagers in remote border areas, doctors, youth, labourers, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, all chanting one slogan.
The Kashmiri leaders who spoke against Jammu in the Cabinet meetings can only be from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, which till recently was your ally.The PDP leaders have been uneasy ever since Azad started his tenure and were looking for an occasion to wriggle out of the government. They did it and it came as no surprise to us. However, it was a bit shocking to see that the PDP and the National Conference (NC), headed by Farooq Abdullah, were happily chanting the same slogans, this time against Jammu.
But today, the agitation in Jammu has led to a major crisis in Kashmir. What do you have to say about it?The mass protests in Kashmir are just diversionary tactics of the Kashmiri leaders — be they in Hurriyat, the PDP or the NC — to divert attention from the real issue of land transfer, which is linked with the sentiments of Jammuites. Leaders like Mehbooba Mufti, and the Hurriyat, are spreading poison by trying to provoke a communal divide in the Jammu region. This is highly irresponsible. The allegation of economic blockade is another trick they are using to divert attention. The fact is that the Centre, for the first time, was worried about the public sentiment in the Jammu region and the leaders were keen to work out an amicable solution.
Kashmiri leaders began to get nervous and started raising the bogey of economic blockade to provoke people into taking out massive protests.
But the valley did face an economic blockade for at least some timeThis is a fundamental difference between Jammu and Kashmir regions. In Jammu too the people have been suffering due to shortages and disruption of normal life for more than two-and-a-half months. They don’t complain as it is their own movement. The supplies to Kashmir would surely suffer due to the continuous bandh in Jammu, which is the gateway to Kashmir, but they should not call it an economic blockade. The fact is that trucks laden with supplies are going to Kashmir under army escorts while Jammu’s rural areas are the worst-hit and are not even complaining.
The divide between the Jammu and Kashmir regions seems too deep to be bridged. Do you see any reconciliation in the future?Probably no Kashmiri wants to remember the positive role Jammu had played when the valley was burning due to insurgency. The people of Jammu welcomed the refugees from Kashmir — both Hindus and Muslims — with open arms. Even today, all political leaders of Kashmir have built their houses in Jammu. Moreover, Jammu maintained peace and communal amity all these years despite the acts of provocation from the terrorists and the separatists in Kashmir. It’s time the Kashmiris learn to respect others’ sentiments. However, I believe the coming election will throw up a political solution to this chasm, which seems unbridgeable today.
The Centre ignored your suggestions that Governor NN Vohra be replaced. Do you feel betrayed?I still believe that shifting the governor will cool the tempers in Jammu. The perception in Jammu is that it was the governor, who, as head of the shrine board, wrote to the government that he does not need the land. Why should the Centre stand on prestige on this? The government should immediately revamp the Amarnath shrine board.
Is there any way you see the agitation in Jammu cooling in the wake of the dangerous situation in Kashmir?The leaders at the Centre are living in a make-believe world if they think so. One must travel across Jammu’s hinterland to feel the do-or-die sentiment behind this people’s movement. The people are very sure that they must not relent from their position as they have done in the past in “national interest.” This time, nobody is in a mood to sit quiet and suffer the dominating nature of Kashmiris. We have suffered it for 60 years.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Solving Amarnath: A New Hope in Kashmir
Murtaza Shibli July 2, 2008
Tags: kashmir , conflict resolution , non-violence , peace
The bold decision of the Congress government led by Ghulam Nabi Azad in Srinagar must be commended. By revoking the land order to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) that was illegal in the first place, Azad has not only shown great courage and decision making skills to deal with a crisis that was
spiraling out of control, a la 1990, but also taken both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the fledgling separatist movement of the Hurriyat Conference off guard, who were using the land issue to manipulate public mind.Though the order came late; it has, however, not only diffused the crisis, but also shown for the first time in recent decades, that a crisis in Kashmir could be solved through bold and timely political action. It also demonstrates to the Kashmiris that by resorting to non-violent action, there is a room for manoeuvre and things can be changed through peaceful means. Baring few incidents of stone pelting and burning of tyres, the massive demonstrations were totally peaceful, without any involvement of the militant groups, and without any communal flavour despite propaganda by various quarters including mainstream Indian media. Sadly, the state response was not that peaceful; five innocent lives were lost during the ten day demonstrations. However, by Kashmiri standards, it could be classified as measured and therefore a change from previous years, when the paramilitary forces would kill dozens on small or no provocations. Incidentally, this is first such massive crisis in the last two decades that has been solved peacefully and decisively, in public favour, taking everyone by surprise.Another very positive aspect that emerged from this stand-off is that the Pakistani government maintained a studied silence on the issue, thus not only keeping the spirit of reconciliation between the two countries alive, but also showing maturity by not succumbing to the pressure from the traditional hawkish elements within the establishment when the temptation was real. This also prevented any wild claims within the Indian government or Hindu militants to blame Pakistan for a role in the crisis. Though, the Pakistani silence irritated the United Jihad Council chief Syed Salahudin, who called it as ‘surprising’, it was in the right spirit of peace that the two countries have embarked upon. Successful dealing of the crisis demonstrated that if the right and positive decisions are taken, keeping in view the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, it is possible to deal with crises without involving Pakistan. It also bought another stark point to the fore – that Pakistan is not always involved in all the crisis in Kashmir; a paranoia that has swept across the Indian establishment and offers an alibi to the politicians and security establishment for their systemic or judgemental failures or biases.The peaceful outcome also shows that if the promises and commitments are followed in the right spirit, there is a room for massive improvement in the situation without employing more than half a million troops and two dozen secret agencies. If the promises like ‘zero tolerance for human rights violations’ made by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh more than two years ago would have been observed, the Kashmiri population would not have felt so distanced or disconnected from the peace process that is now running in the fifth year. In addition, the economic development of the Kashmir valley suffers massively either due to the massive presence of the Army and paramilitary forces or the unspent millions that lye wasted in the government coffers mainly due to the political rivalry between the coalition partners – People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Congress; the tussle added vitriol to fire caused by the current crisis, as the PDP tried to capitalise on it despite being an equal partner in ‘crime’.In a classic act of political opportunism, the PDP that was part of the cabinet decision that allowed the illegal transfer of land to the SASB, decided to withdraw the support and blame its coalition partner Congress for the whole issue. Only days ago, Kashmir’s Forest Minister, Qazi Mohammad Afzal, who belongs to the PDP openly boasted about his role in effecting the land transfer. But when the public reaction grew, the PDP not only withdrew support, but also issued public statements that sounded like racial epithets designed to inflame the public opinion and hence provoke and enlarge the constituency of protests and violence.The use of religion for political ends is not new in south Asia. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the patron of PDP, has previously also been accused of creating communal tensions for his electoral gains. In 1986, during his time as Congress chief of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Sayeed allegedly engineered communal riots against the Kashmiri Pandits in Anantnag district in which half a dozen temples and homes of Hindus were damaged. This afforded Congress a plausible reason to withdraw support from fledgling Ghulam Mohammad Shah government, which was manufactured through defections from the National Conference at the first place courtesy of Mufti Sayeed. Later, in 1990, when the massive public demonstrations engulfed the Kashmir Valley, Mufti, as the Home Minister in the VP Singh government deliberately sent Jagmohan as governor making it difficult for Farooq Abdullah government to function. Farooq resigned and Jagmohan got a free ride employing state terror that gave rise to massive militancy – a phenomenon that still costs lives in Kashmir. Perhaps Mufti Sayeed was wishing to witness the repeat of 1990 to feed his insatiable desire for power, but the timely action by the Azad government diffused the situation successfully, leaving him lost and vulnerable.Buoyed by the success and free from the fetters of PDP conditionality, the Azad government has a huge task ahead. The winter capital of the state, Jammu, has been virtually taken over by the Hindu militant groups who have been attacking the government buildings, offices of the political parties and threatening economic blockade of the Kashmiri Valley. The government should not only deal with situation wisely, but also make sure that no anti-Kashmiri rhetoric or action is allowed that will feed into the agenda of extremist vision of a civilisational clash. It is hoped that all the political parties will discard electoral opportunism and mount joint efforts to initiate serious peace efforts. The successful handling of Kashmir’s current crisis offers a hope and a chance for the Congress government at the Centre to build on this bold decision and work towards a final and durable solution of the problem.
Amarnath Yatra
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Pilgrimage to Paradise
By Subhamoy Das, About.com
Filed In:
1. Temples & Societies
Naturally formed ice Shiva Lingam at the Amarnath Cave
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Hinduism Ads
Hindu God Lord Krishna India Weddings Hinduism Hindu Calendar
June to August is time for the annual Amarnath Yatra — one of the most sacred and popular pilgrimages to the holy snow-clad cave shrine of Lord Shiva in the beautiful northern Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. Of all Hindu pilgrimages, Amarnath — situated at an altitude of 3,880 meters in the southern Kashmir Himalayas — is considered one of the holiest.
A visit or 'darshan' to the Holy Cave is generally open from early July (Ashad Purnima) to early August (Sharvan Purnima). The pilgrimage starts in July and draws thousands of pilgrims to the naturally-formed ice at the holy cave shrine. The 'yatra' or pilgrimage concludes in August, around the Raksha Bandhan festival.
Ensuring A Smooth Yatra
No pilgrim is allowed to proceed for the yatra without proper registration. A medical certification is a must before registering as a pilgrim. []. While most of the Pahalgam road is open to vehicular traffic, the last 24 km to the holy cave have to be traveled on foot. Adequate measures are taken to make this tortuous trek easier. Arrangements are made for proper supply of drinking water to the pilgrims enroute the holy cave. Power development department authorities ensure uninterrupted power supply from Sarbal to the holy cave, particularly during nights, and the departments of health, food and supplies, and cooperatives keep adequate stock of medicines, oxygen, food grains, firewood and other essentials for the convenience of the pilgrims.
The Charm of the Himalayas
In the Hindu mythology, there is a strong connection between the sublime Himalayan summits and Lord Shiva. Kalidasa, the greatest of the Sanskrit poets described the Himalayas as "the laughter of Shiva." Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita, "Of the mountains, I am the Himalayas." And Swami Vivekananda wittily said that India has so many gods and goddesses because it's so close to the Himalayas — the abode of the gods.
An Icy Idol
The cave shrine of Amarnath can be accessed only during these rainy months of July and August, when inside the cave, a pure white ice-mound is formed, and water trickles down in a slow mysterious rhythm from the top of the cave on top of it. It piles up to take the shape of a 'lingam', the phallus symbol representing Lord Shiva, which begins to rise undiscernibly to acquire a full shape on the full moon night. It is believed that water from the Ramkund Lake situated above the cave, falls drop by drop on the holy Shiva Lingam.
Legend Has It
Legend has it that here on a Shravan day, Lord Shiva narrated 'Amar Katha' — the secrets of the cosmos — to his consort Goddess Parvati, the beautiful daughter of the Himalayas. As Parvati fell asleep during the discourse, two pigeons heard Lord Shiva's story and attained immortality. Since then the holy place came to be known as Amarnath, and every year on the full moon day of Shravan, a pair of pigeons is seen inside the cave.
Truly a Pilgrim’s Paradise
The Amarnath Yatra, they say, leaves a profound impact of spiritual exaltation on the minds of the pilgrims, who stride through an exceedingly enchanting and enthralling route "upward" to meet the shining glory and greatness of God. Swami Vivekananda recounting his Amarnath experience said, "I have never been to anything so beautiful, so inspiring."
The Amarnath Controversy; An In-Depth Analysis
Vivek Gumaste
Conclusions that do not conform to the litmus test of objective logic can at best be termed as bigoted or classified under one of its sub categories: communal, racist or sexist. The stubborn attitude of the Kashmiri Muslims vis-à-vis the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board land transfer controversy and the obsequious kowtowing by the Indian news media in support of this naked exhibition of communal fervor is a classic example of prejudice and warped journalism. Further when one tallies the land involved and its purported aim with the magnitude of the outcry, one can truly appreciate the plebian nature of this protest.
At the crux of the controversy is or was 40 hectares (800 kanals) of forest land initially transferred (now taken back by the government) to the SASB to facilitate amenities for pilgrims on their way upto the mountain shrine. The outlandish premise that this meager chunk of forest land could be instrumental in juggling the demography of the valley fails to correspond to any mathematical possibility or comply with even plain common sense.
The Kashmir Valley spans an area of 15,948 square kilometers and houses a population of 5.4 million with Muslims accounting for 99%. Forty hectares amount to half of one square kilometer (0.40 to be exact) and translates to less than one hundredth of one percent of the valley’s land area. I repeat less than one hundredth of one percent (0.01%). Calculate how many Hindus this area would be able to sustain at a density of 341 per square kilometer (current distribution in the Valley)and then factor in the 99 to 1 ratio of Muslims to Hindus to extrapolate the probability of a demographic reversal at any point in the future; an inane assumption by any stretch of imagination.
It is all the more ironical that this charge of demographic supersession should emanate from a community that stood placidly on the sidelines as militants systematically cleansed the valley of 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits.
Coming to the polemics of environmental preservation, one again sees double standards. The Kashmiri’s concern for natural sanctity strangely seems to be selective with a predilection for Hindu projects whether it be Amarnath or the Sharda Peeth University. In contrast, the felling of 10,000 trees and the encroachment upon the habitat of the Markhor goat (an endangered species) to make way for the Moghul road linking two Muslim districts fails to register any protest of ecological infraction. Neither is a murmur of dissension heard when the recipients of the government’s largesse happen to be the Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University at Rajouri (5000 kanals) or the Islamic University at Awantipora. Incidentally both projects were cleared under the stewardship of the then chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, one of the main protagonists of the present controversy.
The inference is crystal clear: there was and is no rationale behind the protest, merely a communal agenda.
While politicians can be conniving and the common folk gullible, what is intriguing is that the national media which is supposed to be objective and analytical chose to bolster this unprincipled stand without uttering a syllable of criticism against this wayward behavior.
Mired in an ideological trap that revels in preconceived notions, the Indian media has toed a preset line that is at times oblivious to rationality and consistently relegates facts and moral principles to second place to fit this mould.
Typical is an editorial in the Indian Express (Identity Crises. Jun 30) .The editorial accepts the absurdity of the demographic charge by stating that “Forty hectares of forest land. A hundred acre wood. Anywhere else in India, unfortunately, transfer of such land at an official’s whim would hardly be a problem of national proportions.”
The logical corollary of such an assessment would then be to apportion blame where it rightly belongs: with the separatist politicians and the Muslim majority of Kashmir for this avoidable brouhaha. Instead the leader article throws a curved ball to make a scapegoat of retired Governor, Lt. General S. K Sinha: “However, short-sighted as the local political leadership has been, the central responsibility rests with the outgoing governor, S.K. Sinha,” In addition, the editorial condemns his ‘lack of vision and lack of ability’ and charges him with ‘communalizing the state machinery.’
Another article in the same newspaper (The Yatra’s Wrong Turn. Muzamil Jaleel. IE. June 29) reiterates the accusation: “The first signs of trouble surfaced soon after Lt Gen S.K. Sinha took over as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 2003, succeeding Girish Chandra Saxena, an apolitical and non-controversial governor.”
Similarly Barkha Dutt (A Stitch in Time.HT June 27) lacks the courage to call a spade a spade or identify the true villains in this drama. Apart from naming the favorite whipping boy, S. K. Sinha, she indulges in shadow boxing throwing punches in the air and speculates on every other cause but the true one: “It also doesn’t help that the former Governor (he retired a few days ago) enjoyed displaying his authority and made sure his offices sent a press release on his new plans for the yatra — hardly the sort of sledgehammer publicity-seeking manner you would want in a sensitive, conflict-ridden state.
Among the allegations made by protestors is the suggestion that the transfer of land and construction of facilities on it for Hindu pilgrims is an attempt by ‘outsiders’ to alter the religious demographics of the Valley. The fact that a charge like this is still able to draw a flood of people onto the streets is a statement on how battered and damaged the relationship between Delhi and Srinagar continues to be.”
Ascribing the present imbroglio to the unhealthy relationship between the state and the center is hardly justifiable. Is Ms. Dutt implying that the Kashmiris are expressing their displeasure at the Indian nation by handicapping the Amarnath yatra, a quintessential Kashmiri tradition but of Hindu origin? If so, then is it not the Kashmiri Muslim who is communalizing the problem (rather than S.K Sinha) in an act that clearly violates the spirit of his/her much touted Kashmiriyaat?
To dock Lt. General S.K Sinha, alone, without taking into account the guileful shenanigans of his bete-noir, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, one of the key figures behind the present agitation and an avowed Pakistani sympathizer, would be grossly unfair. As chief Minister, instead of encouraging the yatra, the Mufti attempted to curb its duration to 15 days; a move that was overturned by the court. One must also bear in mind his recent advocation of Pakistani currency in Kashmir. On the flip side, it was S.K. Sinha who established operation Sadbhavna to rebuild mosques and Sufi shrines with army aid
To put things in perspective, let us recapitulate the exact nature of Sinha’s liability. Simply put, all that he did was to acquire a negligible tract of land to shelter pilgrims on their way to a holy shrine: a commendable good Samaritan deed at the outset but one that assumes culpability only because of its Hindu adjective.
Finally, the kernel of truth that demolishes the very basis of this agitation. In an interview with Suman K Jha (IE. Jul2), S.K. Sinha avers: “No permanent constructions were to come up in the camps. The ownership of the land was not transferred to the Board. And it was only a diversion of land for two months in a year.”
Summing up the General adds: “Our point of view, however, was always blacked out in the separatist din in the Valley”
That goes for the Hindu voice in Kashmir as well.
Jammu V/s Kashmir
Vijay K. Sazawal
Unlike the sustained uprising in Kashmir in 1990 which was mostly orchestrated by Pakistani trained operatives, the uprising in the summer of 2008 was mostly indigenous, spontaneous and massive. The opening salvo, it would seem, was fired discreetly by the coalition partner, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Networking with a group of seasoned journalists who write for Srinagar-based newspapers, the PDP let out a canard ahead of the state cabinet meeting on May 20, 2008, that the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) under the patronage of its Chairman, the Governor of the state, was planning to construct a large township in Baltal, to be named Amarnath Nagar, near the holy Amarnath Cave. There were other, even more serious accusations, the most disturbing of which was that the Governor was trying to change the demographics of the valley by using the SASB authority to resettle nonresident Hindus in the region. It took time for this news to make the rounds among Kashmiri political analysts and public. The PDP had perhaps hoped that Kashmir would be on fire by the time the state cabinet would meet on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, but that did not happen. In the local media, other than a story or two, the SASB episode was treated with the same mixture of curiosity and disdain as the "Pakistani currency" or the "joint management of Baglihar hydel project," and a few other odd nuggets that PDP habitually threw out like the proverbial hand grenades once in a while.
Perhaps the most significant story on the SASB-related rumors was printed on 11th May 2008 in the leading pro-separatist newspaper in the valley, where a well respected political commentator mixed nationalism with religious chauvinism in opposing the "so-called Hindu invasion" by declaring, "Islam is a reality in Kashmir, which was chosen here by the people to liberate themselves from the highly oppressive social, economic and religious order established by the Brahaminical system." The same journalist would later claim that "the saddest part of the debate surrounding the Amarnath Yatra is that it has attained communal colors, when the question is fundamentally environmental." But that would come much later. Interestingly, both senior PDP ministers -- the Law Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig (who also served as the Deputy Chief Minister) and the Forest Minister Qazi Mohammad Afzal -- attended the May 20 cabinet meeting. Neither of the PDP ministers made any specific objections when the cabinet voted in favor of the Forest Department’s written recommendation to allow the SASB request seeking non-proprietary transfer of 38.88 hectares (about 800 kanals) of land to SASB. It should be remembered that the SASB had made the request for nearly 180 hectares in 2004 and it had taken nearly four years of due diligence, reviews, court orders, negotiations and official approvals by various departments and ministries that eventually ended up paring down the original request for land transfer to the very minimum for building comfort facilities for Hindu pilgrims in transit. The Cabinet Decision Number 94/7 of May 20, 2008, clearly states that the SASB has only non-proprietary rights to the land and is explicit regarding the compensation that must precede any construction -- a payment of Rs. 2,31,30,400, and an additional Rs. 19,94,000 on account of compensatory afforestation to be carried over twice the requested land surface (79.66 hectares).
Thursday, August 14, 2008
History revisited
14 August 2008
By Prem Shankar Jha
By Prem Shankar Jha
There has not been a single call for secession in the valley since the current agitation in Kashmir began. But this may not remain true if the violence continues to grow.
Sixty one years ago, the newly formed government of Pakistan signed a standstill agreement with Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir, but then imposed an economic blockade on his state in order to force him to accede to Pakistan.
The move backfired and Kashmir became a part of India.
Today another economic blockade, this time imposed by Hindu fanatics in Jammu, is threatening to set off a chain reaction that could end by taking Kashmir out of the Indian union. Were history to repeat itself, the Bharatiya Janata Party would be squarely to blame.
In the hysteria triggered last Monday when 60,000 Kashmiris began to march towards the Line of Control with the intention of crossing it, most commentators have traced the origins of the current agitation to the dispute that was ignited by the transfer of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.
This has allowed everyone in New Delhi to put the blame for the present conflagration upon 'Kashmiri separatists' who have seized upon the issue to revive their political fortunes.
According to this interpretation of events N N Vohra, the new (and by implication inexperienced) governor of Kashmir made a mistake when he hastily annulled the land transfer. Had he not done so Hindu bigots in Jammu would not have gained an opportunity to go on the warpath, and the BJP would not have been tempted to fish in troubled waters. Mr. Vohra should therefore be replaced.
But this version of events is factually incorrect. And far from being a culprit, Vohra could be India's best hope for preventing the resumption of another endless bloodbath in Kashmir. The Amarnath Shrine board affair was an agitation waiting to happen.
Eighteen years of militancy, followed by incessant attacks upon the yatris by a new breed of jihadis after the Kargil war, made it necessary to provide heavy security to them. This forced the state to play a major role in its organisation. Instead of coming in small groups spread over the entire summer, Yatris were asked to come within a 15-day period, later extended to a month. That changed the nature of the Yatra.
As the prosperity of the middle class in India swelled their numbers, to Kashmiris this annual descent began to resemble a mini-invasion. The formation of the SASB with a New Delhi appointed governor as its head, provided he was a Hindu, and a recent proposal to extend the yatra to two months, strengthened the impression.
To most Kashmiris, however, the issue was not religious or cultural, but political, for it was one more reminder of their virtual exclusion from decisions that affected their future.
The transfer of forest land to the SASB and the remarks made by its secretary provided the spark that lit the fire. The resulting upsurge is threatening to swallow the remaining middle ground in Kashmiri nationalist politics.
Far from having engineered the agitation the 'separatists' were caught by surprise and found themselves in danger of being swept away. But they were not the only ones in this position. The PDP and the National Conference faced the same fate. The decision to join the agitation was therefore forced equally upon all of them by the spontaneous protest that arose among the people.
Vohra, who is anything but inexperienced on Kashmiri matters, understood all this within hours of arriving in Srinagar and immediately repealed the land transfer. This touched a raw nerve in Jammu. But the initial opposition to the repeal of the land transfer reflected the deeply-rooted belief that Jammu has been given second-class treatment within the state ever since independence. It was not, therefore, communal in origin.
After calming Kashmir Vohra visited Jammu, met dozens of groups of citizens, and assured them that the yatra would not be affected in any way. By mid-July both parts of the state seemed headed for normality.
But Jammu too has its quota of Hindu bigots. And these found strong support from a BJP that was smarting from its defeat in Parliament over the Indo-US nuclear agreement and intent upon using the shrine issue to whip up support for Hindutwa.
On 28 July the Jammu Sangharsha Samiti declared an economic blockade of the valley. For six days nothing moved on the road to Srinagar. Muslim traders and shopkeepers, and truck drivers with a Kashmir registration, were threatened, beaten up and had their goods burnt.
By the time the army was called out on 2 August to reopen the road, the distribution pipeline in the valley had been disrupted. That, and the much reduced flow of goods into Kashmir since then, has ensured that it remains broken. Many parts of the Kashmir are now short of petrol, medicines and a variety of other essentials whose availability people used to take for granted.
The Kashmiri response, an attempt to force open the road to Muzaffarabad, did not come from Hurriyat but from the Kashmir Fruit Growers' Association, which found itself facing the ruin of its entire crop of apples and pears.
It was a response born out of desperation that acquired a political colouring when it was strongly supported not only by the Hurriyat but also the PDP.
But the demand is not a fig leaf for secession as some commentators in Delhi have suggested. Mehbooba Mufti has made it clear, time and again, that it is a demand to fulfill the promises that Delhi and Islamabad have already made, time and again, to the Kashmiris. There has, in fact, not been a single call for secession in the valley since the agitation began. But this may not remain true if the violence continues to grow.
The J&K government has been accused in Kashmir of not being firm enough with the agitators in Jammu and in Delhi (and elsewhere) of not being firm enough with the protesters in Kashmir. But neither accusation is justified. Curfew was declared in Jammu, the army was called out and given shoot at sight orders in Jammu at the beginning of August.
The police did open fire on more than one occasion and this did result in a number of deaths. The toll has been higher in Kashmir because the crowds of demonstrators were much much larger. If the government is guilty of anything, it is a marked reluctance to use more than a minimum of force. But the judgment of how much force to use is far easier to make in hindsight than at the time when the decision has to be made.
What is less easy to understand is the delay of six days between the start of the economic blockade and the calling out of the army to force open the road. Those six days instilled a fear of the road and of the reception that awaited them in Jammu, which has kept large numbers of Kashmiri truck owners and drivers off the road.
Those six days also allowed the fear of economic strangulation to take root in the Kashmiris and opened the way for the politicization of the agitation in the valley.
Today the danger of Kashmir spinning out of control has become very real. People have died. Their funerals will become occasions for outpourings of grief and anger. These will give rise to more demonstrations and may lead to more deaths. The central government has to break this spiral of grief and violence without further delay. To do that it needs demonstrate that the economic blockade has been broken, and reassure Kashmir that it will do whatever is necessary to keep the road to Jammu open and safe.
It also needs to reassure Kashmiris that its is determined to honour its commitment to progressively soften the border between the two parts of Kashmir, and will work with all political parties and movements in Kashmir to make this happen the moment peace is restored.
If there is any silver lining to the developments of the last fortnight, it is that they have brought virtually all Kashmiri nationalist elements together on a single platform. This has created an opportunity for a meaningful dialogue with New Delhi that did not exist before.
Lastly, New Delhi needs to back governor Vohra's attempts to take the Indian state out of the management of the Amarnath Yatra.
One way, that he was exploring when the blockade began, is to induct educated and experienced members of the Gujjar community, which used to manage the yatra till the militancy began, into the shrine board. Another would be to also induct Kashmiri Pandits into the board. But above all governor Vohra needs to review the 2000 act which set up the shrine board and purge it of both the element of central control and of communalism that was allowed to creep into it.
http://www.domain-b.com/people/writers_columnists/prem_shankar_jha/20080814_history_revisited.html
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