Malegaon Blast Case - ATS Credibility not Hindutva on Trial

Malegaon Blast Case - ATS Credibility not Hindutva on Trial

2nd Update - We are also now being told that this transcript is based on an eye-witness. Now here we were thinking this was a wiretap. No folks it was not.

So who is this eye-witness who managed this incredible feat of listening to both sides of a telephone conversation. That must have taken some superhuman hearing skills.

1st Update - Since Offstumped went to press with this post, IBNLive is reporting that the court was shared with a transcript of an alleged phone conversation between 2 of the accused. While it is unclear when this conversation took place it is rather strange that the accused should be discussing the blast 25 days after the incident. A simple google search reveals that the last time the motorcycle was referenced in the media was on Oct 13th and which time the identity of the owner was still unknown. So it begs the question when and how did the accused become aware of the motorcyle being traced to her before actually being picked up by the cops. This transcript raises more questions than offers credible answers.

Offstumped has been reserved on passing judgement on this case since the rumors, first surfaced on Malegaon. In what is increasingly looking like an orchestrated media campaign at the behest of the Congress Party it is becoming clear that the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad does not have a credible case in Malegaon.

While the Mumbai 7-11 sham investigations and the subsequent Malegaon 2006 investigations were never conclusive if there was one thing about the recent Indian Mujahideen arrests it was the specificity of the case against the suspects.

While one may subscribe to the Innocent until Proven otherwise maxim, atleast in each of the arrests starting from Abu Bashir by the Gujarat police to the slaying down of Atif in the Batla encounter in New Delhi to the arrest of Peerbhoy by the Mumbai ATS, the police were very specific on what each of these individuals, where and when with some material evidence to back those specific allegations.

The problem with the Malegaon fishing expedition is that we have heard more on the “larger conspiracy” and practically nothing on “who did what, when and where”.

The only specific facts of the case that the ATS has gone on record and the media keeps regurgitating at every opportune occassion are

- a bike that was apparently sold 4 years ago

- records indicating 400 minutes of cellular phone conversation between 3 individuals

That friends is about how credible the ATS’s case is against the Sadhvi. As Offstumped had initially suspected this is turning out to be more about the Congress’ attempt to divert attention away from its failures in the larger War on Terror and the Communal Socialists in the media are not disappointing it.

With the ATS’s credibility hanging by the thread the BJP has asked some tough questions of it. Offstumped has reproduced the same in full to demand that they be answered.\

Questions from the BJP on the Malegaon Blast Case.

The BJP has been clearly of the view that terrorism needs to be dealt with firmly and that terrorists have got no religion. In the last four and a half years, terrorist have only become emboldened because of the soft approach of the UPA government. At the same time, there ought not to be any sponsored investigation. If there is any evidence action must be taken and law should take its course. It is now so many days that Pragya Thakur is in the custody of Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) Mumbai, and no evidence till date has come in public domain much less credible evidence showing the complicity of Pragya Thakur in the Malegaon Blasts of 2008. Media has widely reported that nothing emerged against her even in the Polygraphy Test, Brain Mapping Tests and Lie Detector Tests. Therefore some very relevant questions do arise relating to the circumstances of investigation by the ATS of Malegaon Blast of 2008 in which Pragya Thakur is alleged to be involved.

ATS INVESTIGATION IN MALEGAON BLAST OF 2006

There was a bomb blast in Malegaon on 8.09.2006 near the Hamidia Masjid and Bada Kabristan in which 31 persons were killed and over 312 were injured. It was found relevant to examine the investigation report of the ATS, Mumbai pertaining to the said blasts and one is surprised to learn that all the conspiracy, motivation, lead and design found by the same ATS in the chargesheet including the complicity of terrorist elements including involvement of Pakistani terrorists in the Malegaon blasts 2006 has been completely reversed in regard to Malegaon blasts 2008. In the 2006 blasts, 3 cases were filed being Azad Nagar, PS Case No 95& 96/2006 and Malegaon City PS Case No 3088 of 2006. Vide the order dated 23/10/2006, the investigation of all the three cases was taken over by the ATS, Mumbai and the chargesheet (final report under section 173(2) of Cr.P.C) was submitted on 21/12/2006 under the signature of K.N Shengal, Assistant Commissioner of Police, ATS, Mumbai. It is very important to quote from the said Final report so that the suspicion with regards to the present investigation may be highlighted. Some of the major findings of the said investigation is being highlighted as follows

1. “In order to exploit the communal sensitiveness of the said city (Malegaon), zealot leaders and members of the banned organization SIMI with their extremist ideology always tried to manipulate the situation by playing with the religious sentiments of the locals and incited them to avenge the alleged brutality committed on them”. ( Page 1 of the Report).

2. The ultimate intention was of stirring up communal riots by creating communal disharmony because the area had mainly a Muslim populace (Page 2 of the report).

3. SIMI by advocating, abating, advising and inciting the Indian Muslim Youth against the policies of Government of India to promote enmity between different groups on the ground of religion and the objective of the criminal conspiracy was to overawe the Government by causing communal riots all over the state (Page 4 of the Report)

4. Investigation has revealed that accused Mohammad Ali Alam Sheikh (A-6) went to Pakistan clandestinely to acquire training in terrorist camps. He also incited and sent Shabbir Ahmad Masiullah (A-2) to Pakistan for similar training. Mohammad Ali Alam Sheikh received a sum of Rupees 1.85 lakhs through Hawala from one Riyaz Bhatkal, a SIMI activist out of which he handed over a sum of Rupees 30, 000 to Shabbir Ahmad Masiullah (A-2) for the expenditure for obtaining training in Pakistan and thus there criminal conspiracy started taking shape (Page 4 of the Report).

Note – The said Riyaz Bhatkal has also been found to be involved in the recent blasts in Gujarat, Rajasthan and other terrorist attacks. He is presently in the custody of Mumbai ATS but no Narco-Analysis at all has been done on him to unearth the nature of conspiracy.

5. In the pursuance of criminal conspiracy a meeting was held in the month of May 2006 at Malegaon in which 9 accused named in Paragraph 7, Page 6 of the Report participated and it was decided to carry out bomb blasts in such a manner and on such occasion that entire Muslim community would get completely infuriated and would come to the streets and resort to rioting and other law and order incidents thus disrupting the even tempo of the life of the community. (Paragraph 7, Page 6 of the Report).

6. In furtherance of criminal conspiracy, after the Bomb Blasts in local trains in Mumbai on 11th July 2006 a meeting was held in Mumbai in the 3rd week of July, 2006 where accused named in paragraphs 9 of the said report at page 7 participated where 2 Pakistani nationals, one of which was called Muzzamil (W-4) were also present with an intent to hatch a plan to commit similar acts of terror also in Malegaon. In the said meeting accused Shabbir Ahmad Masiullah (A-2) persuaded Mohammad Alam Sheikh (A-6) to make arrangements for providing necessary materials to assemble the bomb to be exploded in a religious place of Muslims in Malegaon so that Muslims would get infuriated (Paragraph 9 Page 7 of the Report).

7. The Selection of the Day of Shab-e-Barat falling on a Friday at the time of 1350 hours when there is likelihood of maximum impact with minimum damage to the devotees gathering for prayers and the location of Hamidia Masjid and Mushwart Chowk coupled with purchase of Bicycle from Hindu Shop owners was part of a deliberate and conscious plan to deflect the investigation away from organizations like SIMI and ensure that the focus of investigation shifted elsewhere. The choice of a Muslim religious place at Malegaon was deliberate as the conspirator decided that in order to incite the community only an attack of such a nature would give the desired result. (Para 14 at Page 8/9 of the Report).

8. The report mentions a total of 13 persons as accused out of which 9 were shown as arrested in the report and 4 are wanted. (Pages 12 & 13 of the Report). The Report in paragraph 25 at Page 13 states that all the accused are members of the banned organisation SIMI and were parties to a criminal conspiracy, the object of which was to overawe the government.

QUESTIONS

It is clearly evident that the ATS has a complete investigation report establishing the conspiracy by members of the SIMI who caused the Malegaon blasts including the vital fact that deliberately Bicycles were purchased from Hindu Shopkeepers to shift the focus of investigation and the whole objective was to cause communal unrest and overawe the government. In the case of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur surprisingly the story made out is that the scooter was at some point of time linked to her though it was subsequently reportedly sold or stolen away. The crucial question which emerges is as to why the investigation in connection with the 2008 Malegaon Blasts is not being conducted by the same ATS, Mumbai in the light of its own lead findings and conclusions relating to 2006 Malegaon Blasts as explained above. Is the ATS ignoring the earlier findings and leads deliberately. This suspicion becomes all the more credit worthy in view of the fact that no evidence much less credible evidence has been brought to light against Sadhvi Pragya Thakur till now. The BJP therefore demands as follows :

1. The ATS Mumbai must explain as to why it is not following at all the investigation in Malegaon 2008 blasts on the benchmark of the investigation in conclusion relating to 2006 blasts. This is all the more important because the role of SIMI in a series of Bomb Blasts all over the country is reappearing with alarming regularity and their involvement in 2008 Malegaon blasts also cannot be ruled out.

2. The nation is entitled to know immediately as to what is the evidence available against Pragya Thakur.

3. Mumbai ATS must explain as to why Riyaz Bhatkal, who was the Hawala link in 2006 Malegaon blasts and is found to be involved in a series of recent blasts all over the country has not been put to Narco Tests.

4. If the above questions are not satisfactorily explained at the earliest, it would be clear that the entire present investigation is lacking in fairness, transparency and may suffer the taint of a sponsored investigation.

It can be correctly assumed that Muslims would not normally plant bombs in their own mosques. However, in the first Malegaon blasts in 2006, the ATS, it appears, has come to the conclusion that it was indeed Muslims who planted the bombs there. But they bought the cycles for planting the bombs from Hindu shops. It would therefore transpire that their motive in planting the bombs would have been to implicate Hindu organisations so that the stigma of Muslims alone being terrorists can be wiped out. But they failed in their attempts and no Hindu was implicated. So they planned more meticulously and this time they were able to implicate Hindus. The key is Sadhvi's motorcycle. It must have coincidentally come into the hands of the Jehadis. And upon this bonanza they have built their plot. Therefore it is obvious that the Sadhvi or any Hindu activist is innocent of the latest Malegaon blast. This is a conspiracy by SIMI. The Congress has now joined the conspiracy as it knows the potential power the innocent Sadhvi has to move the Hindu electorate and therefore they will seek to keep the Sadhvi in prison under one charge or another till the elections are over, so that the Sadhvi cannot come out and become the next Jhansi Rani. - K.Venugopal

http://offstumped.nationalinterest.in/2008/11/03/malegaon-blast-case-ats-credibility-not-hindutva-on-trial/#comment-32279

Off Stumped

http://offstumped.nationalinterest.in/2008/11/03/malegaon-blast-case-ats-credibility-not-hindutva-on-trial/

SYASS warns government against false propaganda

SYASS warns government against false propaganda Says info advertisement “Victory of Dialogue" based on lies, falsehood News Agency of Kashmir 9/1/2008 8:16:43 PM Press Release/Jammu, Sept 01(NAK): Taking serious note of the disinformation campaign launched by the State Information Department through advertisement published in various local news papers regarding historical agreement between four member panel headed by Dr S S Bloeria and the committee of the Sangharsh Samiti, Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti today warned the State Government against any false propaganda aimed at creating confusion among the masses in Jammu as well as in Kashmir. Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti alleged that the malicious campaign against the historical agreement is launched by Secretary Information K B Jandial, who earlier tried to sabotage the on-going mass movement by banning airing of local channels like JK Channel and Take One. Sangarsh Samiti cautioned Governor N N Vohra against such officers who have been misusing the official machinery to sabotage the peace process in Jammu and to create misunderstanding amongst the people of different sections. Pointing towards the malicious and confusing advertisements published in news papers under caption "Victory of Dialogue" which was released by State Information Department under the guidance of K B Jandial, the Sangharsh Samiti expressed surprise that these advertisements distorted the facts and are based on lies and falsehood. The advertisements tried to hide the information regarding the “SET ASIDE FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF LAND AT BALTAL AND DOMAIL (COMPARTMENT NO 63/S, SINDH FOREST DIVISION TRADITIONALLY UNDER USE FOR ANNUAL YATRA PURPOSES". The text was deliberately distorted in the government advertisements due to the some hidden agenda. The State Information Department in point No 3 of its advertisements also presented distorted facts about reconstitution of the Shrine Board. As par the agreement there is no mention of the words LOCAL or OUTSIDER. As per the Agreement "The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board will be reconstituted keeping in view the Provisions of the Act and the Past Precedents". The Samiti believes that any Hindu belonging to any part of the world is eligible to the member of the Board. The Samiti asked Governor N N Vohra to keep a check on the misdeeds of such like officers and present the real facts about the historical agreement to avoid any reaction from the people of Jammu. (NAK)

Amarnath Shrine Crisis

http://anuraggangal.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/baba-amarnath-movement-in-jammu-achievements-and-prospects/

Douse the flames in Jammu & Kashmir: CPI(M)

Douse the flames in Jammu & Kashmir: CPI(M) Special Correspondent

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“RSS-BJP combine using the land row to whip up communal passions”

UPA government urged to initiate dialogue

with Sangharsh Samiti

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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

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

Land row resolved, agitation suspended in Jammu

Text of agreement between Governor’s panel-SAYSS

News Agency of Kashmir 8/31/2008 11:52:40 AM

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. Following is the test read out by governor’s adviser Dr S S Bloeria and SASS convenor Leela Karan Sharma during a joint press conference soon after the forth round of talks concluded during the wee hours here today. Text read out by Dr S S Bloeria a) The state government shall set aside for the use by SASB exclusively the land in Baltal and Domail (compartment No 63-S Sindh forest division) comprising an area of 800 kanals traditionally under use for the annual Yatra purposes. b) The propriety status /ownership/title of the land shall not undergo any change. c) The board shall use the aforesaid land for the duration of the Yatra including the period of making the required arrangements and winding up of the same for the purpose of user by various service providers according to its needs and priorities. d) The aforesaid land shall be used according to the board’s requirements from time to time including the following:- i) Raising of temporary pre fabricated accommodation and toilet facilities by the board ii) Establishment of tented accommodation by private camping agencies (locals, permanent residents of the state) iii) Setting up of the shops by shopkeepers (Locals, permanent residents of the state) iv) Facilities for pony owners and pithu walas. v) Provision of health care and medical facilities vi) Setting up of free Langers by private persons and groups which are licensed by the board vii) Facilities of helicopter operations/parking of vehicles. viii) Arrangements of security by local police/para military forces and other security agencies as per the arrangements in place hereto fore and x) Undertaking taking measures relating to soil conservation, land protection and preservation of ecology. It has further been agreed that the board shall continue to function for the over all Yatra arrangements for the pilgrims on all routes during the period of Yatra by the Shree Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) as mandated by the provisions Amarnath act 200 AD Text read out by SAYSS Convener Leela Karan Sharma . Apart from the above the committee set up by the Samiti during the course of discussion projected 14 point chatter of demands for consideration by the state government. 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. The Simiti convener also announced suspension of Bandh and the same will be called off after the demand of suspension of SSP Kathua and enforcing the demands agreed in the agreement. Leela Karan Sharma who was flanked by other members expressed entire satisfaction over the settlement of the core issue and other related issues. Government has also agreed upon for setting up of a working group who will examine the losses to the traders and transporters in both the regions and will recommend for the appropriate action. (NAK)