Maintain harmony, Amarnath Shrine Board appeals people

Srinagar, Jul 5 (PTI) Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) today urged the people of Jammu and Kashmir to maintain peace and calm, saying the annual yatra has been a shinning symbol of the deeply secular traditions and glorious ethos of this pluralistic state. In a unanimous resolution, the Board, which met here under the Chairmanship of Governor and chairman of SASB N N Vohra urged all segments of society to maintain harmony and brotherhood. The Board expressed the hope that the collective resolve and commitment of the people of the state towards peace and harmony will pave the way for a fruitful conduct of the yatra this year and fully restore the momentum of the very large number of people visiting the state. The Board also appointed the Principal Secretary to governor B B Vyas as its Chief Executive Officer. The Governor exhorted the Board officials to work devotedly for ensuring that fully satisfactory facilities are provided to the visiting pilgrims. He called for very close synergy between SASB and each of the concerned governmental agencies, which have been providing logistic support for various services during the annual event. PTI

BJP claims a “wave of support” in Jammu

BJP claims a “wave of support” in Jammu
Special Correspondent the hindu
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday claimed a “wave of support” in Jammu for its demand that the order revoking leasing of land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board be cancelled.

The police fired on “peaceful protestors” in Jammu at “four places,” and in the Kashmir Valley, the State government and the Centre “kneeled before” separatists and fundamentalists by revoking the “legitimate” order on land transfer, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
Mr. Javadekar pointed out that the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led government had been reduced to a minority with the withdrawal of support by the People’s Democratic Party.

In the Centre too, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government was facing threat of withdrawal of support by Left parties.

Asked why the BJP was making a fuss now, when during NDA partner National Conference’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir, facilities were provided to pilgrims without transferring land to the shrine board, he said that at that time there was no proposal for transfer of land to the board.

Muslims were not against facilities being provided to those visiting the shrine. Only fundamentalists and separatists had created a dangerous situation in the Valley and the Centre had quietly caved in to their demands, he said.

The BJP expected a total “hartal” in the country on Thursday in response to a call given by it.

J & K unrest

The order of the Jammu and Kashmir government for transfer of 39.88 hectares of forest land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) for construction of temporary sheds to accommodate the pilgrims led to Statewide protest and withdrawal of Peoples Democratic Party from the coalition government led by Gulam Nabi Azad of the Congress Party reducing the Azad Government to a minority. Bowing to public pressure, the J&K government has now revoked the land transfer order and also assumed full responsibility of organising the Amarnath Yatra, so long vested to the SAS Board since its creation. It was, in fact on the insistence of the then Governor of J&K, Lt Gen (rtd) SK Sinha, who acting as the Chairman of the SAS Board, pressurised the J K government to allot forest land to the Board that led to the communal divide in the sensitive State. Governor Sinha also pressurised the then Chief Minister Mufti Md. Sayeed to prolong the Amarnath pilgrimage from four to eight weeks which was rejected by the Chief Minister as about 40,000 security personnel were tied up in providing security to the pilgrims. This led to resignation of five Congress Ministers from Jammu. Therefore Governor Sinha’s partisan role had created the communal divide and he left the State burning. The new Governor, NK Vohra had a tough time in diffusing the situation by relinquishing the claim of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board to the forest land, paving the way for the State government to revoke the controversial order.The situation should have returned to normal but for the Hindutva Brigade of the BJP coming out to the streets in Jammu against the government order of revocation of allotment of forest land to the Shrine Board. The BJP has given a call for two days of Jammu Bandh for politicisation of the issue and surrender of the State government to separatist forces. Even the VHP, Assam Unit has threatened to disrupt Haj pilgrimage. The National Conference led by Omar Abdullah and the Peoples Democratic Party led by Mehbooba Mufti have whipped up communal passion forgetting the fact that the National Conference government created the SAS Board with the Governor as Chairman and the Deputy Chief Minister and the Forest Minister belonging to PDP issued the land allotment order. When these leaders found that the Islamist forces have mobilised public protest on this issue they also lent their voices in support of the Islamist forces. The PDP has withdrawn from the coalition reducing the Azad Government to a minority. The Government will seek a vote of trust on the 7th July as directed by the Governor and the Chief Minister appeared confident of victory. As elections to the State Assembly is not far off ,the Azad government can continue as caretaker government even if it lost the trust motion. Whatever be the fate of the Government, the chasm created between the two communities on this issue would take time to repair. Political parties should refrain from politicising the issue any further. source: assam tribune editorial