India: Secular State Regressing for Piligrim's Progress: The Amarnath Land Row

PILGRIMAGE BUSINESS IN INDIA IS BAD FOR SECULARISM: the land row on Amarnath and communal violence in June - July 2008
A compilation by some articles from the Media

(i)

Kashmir Observer

"SANGH PARIVAR OUT TO DESTROY KASHMIRI ETHOS"

Srinagar, June 24, KONS: Repeating their demand of revoking the land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and the sacking of the Board’s chief executive officer, the CPI(M), the PDF and the JKDP, have condemned the killing of a protestor and the use of force against protestors in Srinagar, demanding a high level inquiry into the incident.

In a joint statement issued today, Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami of the CPI(M), Hakeem Muhammad Yaseen of the PDF and Ghulam Hassan Mir of the JKDP have also flayed the inflammatory statements of the BJP and VHP leaders, saying that Kashmiri Muslims have always facilitated the Amarnath yatra, not because of Togadias and Khajurias, but because of their firm faith in coexistence.

“The loss of a precious life and injuries to scores of people demonstrating against diversion of forest land to the S A Shrine Board for non-forestory purposes is extremely painful as well as lamentable. In a democracy people reserve the right to express themselves through peaceful protests. Use of force against any peaceful demonstration is unwarranted and condemnable. We demand a high level enquiry in to the unfortunate firing incident and caution the State Government to desist from using force against people and allow peaceful dissent,” the statement said.

“We reiterate our view that the order of diversion of forest land for non-forestory purposes be rescinded forthwith and the erring official removed and punished . The derogatory incriminating and highly provocative remarks and the venomous utterances by State BJP Chief ; Ashok Khajuria and his cohorts deserve to be condemned unequivocally by every responsible citizen . It hardly needs to be said that Kashmiris, particularly Muslims have been voluntarily aiding , helping and facilitating Yatra for centuries not out of any compulsion or coercion but as a matter of their deep faith in multiculturalism, religious tolerance and brotherhood of humankind. Kashmiris have continued carrying physically weak and old pilgrims on their backs to the Cave at the risk of their own lives. They did not do this because of any compulsion or coercion or because of Togadias , Khujurias, Kumars, Shiv Saniks or VHP . They do it because of their firm faith in principle of co-existence and brotherhood,” it said.
“The Sangh Parivar has been all through uneasy about this uniqueness of unity in diversity. The Parivar is hell bent on destroying this unity and divide people on communal lines; horizontally as well as vertically; for petty electoral politics. We appeal to people of the State to unitedly frustrate the evil designs of divisive forces,” it said.

“We also urge on the people of the State not to lose cool while expressing themselves on this issue. All of us should be vigilant against any drift in the situation and not to allow the vested interests to use this situation for petty electoral gains,” it said.

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(ii)
ANATOMY OF THE SHRINE BOARD CRISIS
How and why did the Jammu and Kashmir government allow the Board use of forest land?
by Praveen Swami (June 30, 2008)
http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/30/stories/2008063059891300.htm

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CHAUVINISM LEVERAGED FOR POLITICAL PROFIT AGAIN
by Praveen Swami (June 29, 2008)
http://www.hindu.com/2008/06/29/stories/2008062959790800.htm

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Hindustan Times
June 29, 2008

Politics of pilgrimage

by Sonia Jabbar,

Until two weeks ago, the annual Amarnath pilgrimage bore testimony to the symbiotic relationship between Kashmiri Muslims and Hindus of the plains. The recent communal tension, mob protests and retaliatory fire by the CRPF and police that have claimed four young lives so far, threaten to overturn it. The credit for the chaos, which recalls the vitiated atmosphere of the 1990s, must be given to a few key players in the state who are trying to gain dubious advantage in an election year.

The first is the former head of state, Lt Gen SK Sinha (retd). He was due to retire on June 4 but insisted that the government illegally transfer 100 acres of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) of which he was the president. This was done ostensibly to build permanent accommodation for the pilgrims en route to the cave.

Once this information was leaked, and the concerned Forest Minister, Qazi Afzal of the PDP questioned, his party backtracked and blamed the Congress. The Congress blackmailed the PDP into obliging the Governor and would have blocked construction of the Mughal Road linking the Muslim areas of Rajouri and Poonch with the Valley, as claimed by Deputy Chief Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Beig, whose party the PDP has now pulled out of the government. The Valley erupted. The Congress was accused of communalising the atmosphere.

The PDP’s accusation turned out to be a hoax, but the Hurriyat, which had been unemployed the last few years because of Pakistan’s internal problems, suddenly woke up and declared the land transfer as the first move towards a demographic change in Kashmir. Across the Pir Panjal in Jammu, the Bajrang Dal, the VHP and sundry Hindu groups organised a retaliatory strike to oppose the Kashmiris. With everyone out on the streets screaming blue murder, no one stopped to ask how the people of Jammu would be affected by the building of permanent structures and tents on the Amarnath route, or how many million Hindus would fit into 100 acres of land at an altitude of 10,000 ft.

It takes a particularly diabolical genius to manufacture a crisis out of thin air. In a secular state the government has no business meddling in religious affairs whether it is providing a questionable Haj subsidy or meddling in Hindu pilgrimages.

The Amarnath pilgrimage is a fairly recent affair, following the discovery of the cave by a Muslim shepherd in the 1850s, whose descendants, together with Hindu sadhus, were involved in the organisation and logistics of the pilgrimage until 2001. From all accounts,the pilgrimage ran smoothly for 150 years, even at the height of the militancy, until the J&K government stepped in.

If there is a case of fixing something that ain’t broke, it is this. Ever since the government took over, the SASB has been mired in controversy. In 2004, the Governor extended the pilgrimage from one to two months, and a second 30 km shorter route, via Baltal, was regularised. Various new and improved facilities, including a helicopter service, were advertised, increasing traffic from a few thousand pilgrims to 400,000. The State Pollution Control Board complained about the sheer quantity of garbage and human waste. The SASB promised to build more toilets. In 2005, on a hike in the sylvan Betab valley soon after the yatra closed, I walked straight into the lies and realised to my horror, that the 400,000 preferred a lota and the woods.

In 2006, Deepender Giri, the mahant long involved in organising the yatra, resigned from the SASB in disgust, accusing the Governor of creating an artificial lingam, which had begun to melt earlier than normal due to unseasonal heat and increased pilgrim traffic. To stem the melting of the lingam and the protests that followed, the Governor, without consulting the Board, ordered dry ice to be placed around the lingam, leading to further protests.

In all this cacophony, the wise pilgrim should pause and consider the object of pilgrimage: Shiva. A Bengali babaji from Khir Bhavani shrine once reminded me, “Kashmir is always in ferment because it belongs to Bhairav.” Shiva is the creator, preserver and destroyer. In the skandas he is constantly called upon to restore the balance of the universe, which he often does through the tandav, the dance of destruction. The wise pilgrim should ask why it is that the lingam has begun to melt.

Sonia Jabbar is an independent journalist

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Indian Express
June 29, 2008

THE YATRA'S WRONG TURN

by Muzamil Jaleel

Ever since it was discovered by a Muslim shepherd in 1850, the Amarnath shrine and the annual pilgrimage to it signified a bond between Hindus and Muslims. Having survived the Valley’s worst years of violence, a land transfer now threatens to polarise the state. MUZAMIL JALEEL charts the journey of a raging controversy.

One of the most revered Hindu shrines, Amarnath was discovered by a Muslim shepherd in 1850. Buta Malik and his family became the custodians of the cave shrine along with Hindu priests who came from two religious organisations—Dashnami Akhara and Purohit Sabha Mattan. This unique ensemble of faiths turned the pilgrimage spot into a symbol of Kashmir’s centuries old communal harmony and composite culture.
In 2000, the J-K Government decided to intervene, ostensibly to help improve the facilities for the annual yatra and the then ruling National Conference enacted a legislation to form a shrine board, with the Governor of the state as its chairman.
As soon as the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board was formed, the Government evicted the Malik family as well as the Hindu organisations that were traditionally involved with the pilgrimage. The board did substantially streamline the pilgrimage but in the process completely destroyed the unique aspect of the yatra when they removed the Muslim custodians of the shrine.
In fact, the idea of a shrine board to provide better facilities to the pilgrims had taken shape following the recommendations of the Nitish Sengupta Committee in 1996, set up by the state Government to identify the causes behind the death of over 200 yatris who were caught in bad weather. The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board Act introduced by the then J-K tourism minister S.S. Salathia set up a board headed by the Governor to “administer, manage and govern the affairs of the cave shrine”.
As per the Act, the board has to have 10 members—two people who have distinguished themselves in service of Hindu religion and culture, two women with exemplary service to Hindu religion, culture or social work, specially in regard to advancement of women, and three persons with renown in administration, legal affairs or financial matters. The board, however, has “two eminent Hindus of the state” as its members while all others can be non-state subjects. Under the Act, if the Governor happened to be a non-Hindu, he can nominate any Hindu of the state to head the board.
The board’s finances come from funds consisting of grant-in-aid from the state and Central Governments, contributions from philanthropic organisations or persons, NGOs, registration fee and others who initiate economic activity en route and the ‘chadawa’ (offerings made by pilgrims).

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. The state had seen a major political upheaval with the defeat of National Conference in the 2002 assembly polls and the new coalition government led by the PDP’s Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was at the peak of its enthusiasm. Sinha decided to be a proactive Governor, despite the controversies he created during his stint in Assam, where political parties had similar complaints against him.
In Jammu and Kashmir, Sinha began intervening, first with the counter-insurgency security grid. A retired general, his association with Kashmir had begun in October 1947, when as a young lieutenant he had fought against Pakistan. It seemed Sinha’s entire discourse on Kashmir was caught in the trenches of the 1947 war in which he lost his close friend, Major Som Nath Sharma. He enjoyed a lot of clout in the Army, and at times officers would listen to him more than to the elected leadership of the state.
The Mufti government was upset when Sinha started seeking reports from deputy commissioners and superintendents of police. These steps of the Governor led to much bitterness. At one point of time, the acrimony reached such levels that Sayeed boycotted a Unified Command Headquarters meeting called by visiting Union Home Minister Shivraj Patel. The Chief Minister is the chairman of the Unified Command Headquarters, the counter-insurgency grid of the state that includes the Army, paramilitary, police and the intelligence agencies.
The rivalry between Sinha and the ruling PDP took an ugly turn when the Amarnath Shrine Board, of which Sinha was chairman, unilaterally extended the duration of the yatra to two months. Traditionally, the yatra was a 15-days affair, which had been extended to a month. Sayeed rejected the extension, pleading both the additional burden on the security forces and the administration as well as concerns about the weather. Sinha, however, took a confrontational route and soon four Congress ministers from Jammu resigned over the issue. The Congress party had come under severe pressure to part ways with PDP on the matter. The crisis subsided after the intervention of the Congress high command but the animosity grew.
Sinha steadily pushed his own ideas. His Principal Secretary, Arun Kumar, directly wrote to the then Forest Secretary, Sonali Kumar—who was also his wife—and managed to get around 4,000 kanals of forestland transferred to the Shrine Board. This order was immediately struck down by the Government and a show-cause notice slapped on Sonali Kumar for making the transfer without following procedures, especially the compulsory cabinet approval.
However, when Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress took over as chief minister, the relations with Raj Bhavan improved. But Sinha harboured a larger idea of his own “solution to Kashmir problem”. He followed his agenda till the day he left Srinagar. Sinha came up with several measures, thinking that promotion of the Hindu past of Kashmir would help increase pro-India sentiment in the Valley. He wanted to create avenues and institutions for a “patriotic” version of research into Kashmir’s history, politics and conflict in the Kashmir and Jammu universities.
He also came up with the idea of Operation Sadbhavna in which the Army would help renovate Kashmir’s Sufi shrines and mosques. Sinha, however, found himself in a controversy as the people started saying the step was aimed at creating a sectarian divide in Kashmir.
A few months ago, Sinha directly wrote to J-K Deputy Chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig seeking forest land in Nunwan, Pahalgam and Baltal and the setting up of an independent development authority run by Raj Bhavan. The Government didn’t agree to the proposal for an independent development authority but did simultaneously diverted 800 kanals of forestland to the Shrine Board in May.

THE opposition to the Shrine Board acquisition of the land has its roots in a sense of insecurity about any land transfer in Kashmir. People also raised serious questions about timing and purpose of this land transfer. The Shrine Board was constituted as a body to provide and improve services for the pilgrims with the active help of the state Government, police, civilian administration, army, paramilitary forces and also the local Muslim population. This has been happening for past more than a century. Why does the Shrine Board want land to be transferred to them when they already are using this land for decades for the yatra? If the Shrine Board is working to make the yatra smoother for the pilgrims, what scope does it have to conduct massive Sufi festivals everywhere? Why does Raj Bhavan use the Shrine Board to define the cultural and religious ethos of Kashmir in one particular manner? These questions have fuelled the fire of controversy.
Raj Bhavan’s desire to wrest control over land has dismayed many, especially since they see the Shrine Board as being an extra constitutional entity, outside legislative oversight. This has happened twice: the legislators asked questions about the functioning of the board and were told they could not ask questions to the constitutional head of the state. This means that whenever the elected legislators had queries about the functioning of the Shrine Board, its chairman took refuge in the constitutional privileges of the office of Governor.
When the new Governor N.N. Vohra took over on June 25, he had his job cut out for him. Kashmir has literally returned to the 1990s with hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets protesting about the land transfer. The situation is fast polarising the state along communal lines and if the crisis is not addressed immediately, it will cause the Government much harm, especially in an election year.

What is the importance of Amarnath?
Legend has it that when Shiva decided to tell Parvati the secret of his immortality (Amar Katha), he begun looking for a place where nobody could overhear him. He chose the Amarnath cave, 3,888 m above sea level, in a gorge deep inside the Himalayas in south Kashmir that is accessible through Pahalgam and Baltal in Sonamarg. The cave can be reached only on foot or on ponies through a steep winding path, 46 km from Pahalgam and 16 km from Baltal.

How was the Cave discovered?
According to lore, in 1850 a saint gave a Muslim shepherd, Buta Malik, a bag full of coal while he was with his herd high up in the mountains of South Kashmir. When he reached home, Malik opened the bag to find it full of gold. An ecstatic Malik ran to thank the saint but couldn’t find him. Instead he found the cave and the ice lingam. He told the villagers about his discovery and that was the beginning of the pilgrimage.
Every year, lakhs of Hindu pilgrims walk up the mountain to reach the shrine. “Originally the yatra used to be for 15 days or a month,” says the Purohit Sabha Mattan president. The sabha organised the yatra before the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board took over in 2000. In 2005, the board decided to extend the pilgrimage to over two months. There is no official record though of when the yatra first began. The annual yatra ends when Mahant Deependira Giri, the custodian of the Holy Mace, carries it to the cave.

How is the lingam formed?
The lingam is formed by a trickle of water falling from a small cleft in the cave’s roof. The water freezes as it drips slowly to form a tall, smooth cone of ice—the Shivlingam. It gets its full shape in May. Then it begins melting gradually and by August it is reduced to just a few feet in height. On the left side of the Shivlingam are two more ice stalagmites of Lord Ganesh and Parvati.

How did problems over the Yatra start?
n In 2000, the J-K State Legislative assembly passed Shri Amarnath Shrine Board Act, making the Governor the chairman of the board while his Principal Secretary became the Chief Executive Officer of the board. Till then the shrine was administered by Purohit Sabha, Mattan and Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar—two Hindu religious bodies.
In September 2003, the PDP led J-K Government took over the Muslim Auqaf Trust run by the National Conference and set up the J-K Muslim Waqf Board with the Chief Minister as its chairman. The government gave mismanagement as the reason but analysts saw a political angle in the issue as well: the PDP wanted to dislodge its arch rivals NC from the administration of the shrines and thus limit its influence.
In 2004, the J-K Government and Raj Bhavan locked horns on the issue of the duration of the Amarnath yatra. The Governor wanted the yatra to be extended to two months from the traditional month-long annual pilgrimage. The then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed declined, citing an additional burden on security and the state machinery besides weather.
The issue threatened to assume a communal and regional dimension as four Congress ministers from Jammu resigned. Then Congress’s entire Jammu leadership along with BJP and other Hindu organisations openly came to Governor’s support. The crisis subsided only after the Centre intervened.
In March 2005, the then Forest Secretary Sonali Kumar issued orders for the transfer of 3642 kanals of forest land around the holy cave to the custody of the Shrine Board. The General Administration Department issued a show-cause notice to her, seeking explanation for violation of rules because the order didn’t adhere to the Forest Conservation Act and needed prior cabinet approval. Sonali Kumar is the wife of the Principal Secretary to Governor and CEO, Amarnath Shrine Board, Arun Kumar.
In 2005, the Shrine Board decided to bring in commercial helicopter service to ferry pilgrims to Amarnath. J-K Tourism Corporation insisted on using state helicopters but the Shrine Board termed it interference in its work and roped in private companies. The issue was settled in the High Court.
In 2005, Chief Minister Sayeed stayed away from a high-level security review meeting of Unified Headquarters called by visiting Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, which was a direct fallout of his power struggle with the Governor.
In 2007, a top PDP minister disallowed the Board from constructing a motorable road from Baltal to Amarnath, citing its disastrous environmental implications as the reason.
In 2008, the state Government rejected a report of an advisory committee which had recommended transfer of land in Baltal to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board for construction of road and raising hutments at various points. Forest Minister and PDP leader Qazi Afzal, however, constituted a committee to look into the issue.

What’s the forest land controversy all about?
June 2, 2008: Conceding to Raj Bhavan’s demands, the state Government sanctioned the transfer of around 40 hectares of forest land to the Shrine Board. The matter, at the centre of a controversy for the past four years involving Governor Sinha and the ruling People’s Democratic Party, is fast turning into a poll issue.
In a statement issued by Raj Bhavan, the state Government has okayed the diversion of forest land measuring 39.88 hectares in the Sindh Forest Division. “The Amarnath Shrine Board is fulfilling all the conditions laid down for the transfer of the land at Baltal, which inter alia includes payment of over Rs 2.31 crore,” it said.

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Kashmir Times
June 29, 2008

SHED COMMUNAL GLASSES, SEE WITH AN OPEN MIND

by Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal

The trouble maker has finally packed his bags and gone. That may be good news for all those who understood his machinations or lack of grasp over the political and social set up of Jammu and Kashmir of which he remained a constitutional head for five years. Unfortunately, much as everyone would wish, former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Gen Sinha's departure will not undo the damage he was responsible for. Political analysts, intellectuals and academics had been warning since long of the communal and regional tensions Sinha was engineering, consciously or unwittingly, in Jammu and Kashmir. Finally, as he departs, their stand is vindicated and the entire state is left seething and boiling in rage, violence consuming people's lives and refreshing the dormant fear psychosis. As a new governor takes over, politicians get busy in shifting blame. Of course, one can owe the genesis of the Amarnath Shrine Board controversy to the governor, but what about the politicians creating divisive tendencies and blowing the entire issue out of context? And worse still are intellectuals, many of them calling Kashmir's violent agitation discouraging for return of Kashmiri Pandits or emancipated men like G Parthasarthy describing this as Pakistan's agenda. Media reports, without mentioning killings of youth in unprovoked firing, talked only of attacks on pilgrims by angry mobs, which is far from truth. One never heard of twisted tales like that.
The violence erupting on streets of the Valley is not the problem but a symptom of a disease that may not simply have been sparked by the land transfer deal but with the entire functioning of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, which since its inception has been taking several steps that have gone against the interests of the locals. It has been days now since the people in Kashmir came out on the streets, first peacefully and then giving vent to their anger by pelting stones, provoked more violently by the brutal response of the police and the security personnel on the roads. And, finally it took shape of a political revolt, the latent 'azadi' sentiment having woken up from deep slumber again. Before one begins blaming the people, there is need to understand the anger, rather than categorising this entire anger as 'communal'. The agitation, as is being misconstrued was never against any particular community or even the yatra. It is simply against the communal policies of the Shrine Board and the latest deal of transfer of forest land to the Board. The people of Kashmir have not only allowed the yatra to take place year after year for over a century (even through all the years of turmoil), they have also been active participants, the shrine itself having been discovered by a Muslim family. The deliberate forced eclipse of the Muslims from the yatra scene, the yatra extension with all its fallout on environment and security of the Valley was already something that did not go down too well with the local population. But never before was the yatra challenged. It still is not. Even as the transfer of 800 kanals of forest land to the Shrine Board for construction is something that has sparked anger, no case is being made by the angry mobs spilling out on the roads, or by the leaders spearheading a campaign opposing the government decision, against the yatra, yatris or the tourists.
It would be unfair to both brand the seething anger as communal and to become absolutely passive over the issue. The government response is matched by petty politicking and also a lack of understanding of the issue, or at least a lack of will to grasp realities. The land transfer deal becomes an eyesore for the alienated people not because the land has to be used for pilgrimage but because of decades-long history of usurpation of state land, agricultural and forest land by agencies from outside. The latter seek to occupy land on temporary basis but not only do they become permanent fixtures but also lend legitimacy for enlarge base of such occupation, as has been the case with the cantonments and camps of the army and other para-military forces. This is what evokes fears of Indian state, through its agencies, being in a position to manipulate demographics. The opposition to the transfer of land for the Shrine Board has to be seen in this light.
So where really lies the remedy? Certainly, not in branding the entire campaign as 'communal'. If the government does that, through media or other forms of propaganda, it will only end up fanning communal fires. There is no other way out but to roll back the land transfer decision if it goes against the popular sentiment. In fact, the government's task should go beyond that in doing away with the Shrine Board that has only flared up communal passions. For years, the yatra was peacefully being conducted, in accordance with its spiritual essence and norms of environment, by the Dashnami Akhara. Time the latter is revived, or at least a Trust comprising elected persons is created. In fact, the same analogy should apply to all religious institutions and pilgrimages to allow locals to participate and regulate religious affairs and leave the State out of religious affairs of the people. The state should immediately step back whether it is the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage, Amarnath or the Auqaf. As far as the Amarnath yatra is concerned, it is important to revive the original flavour of the yatra without its extended period and the heavy influx of pilgrims. This would suit both environmental norms and the religious sensibilities of the pilgrims who have been robbed of the spiritual essence of the Amarnath yatra with a melting Shivlingam. It is na‹ve to compare the Amarnath yatra to Vaishno Devi, the latter being a year round pilgrimage. It would be far better to take lessons, instead, from pilgrimages like Kailash Mansrovar where a quota system is never seen as an encroachment on the religious rights of the Hindus. Why should any such quota system and a fixed time period be tainted with a communal colour in this state? It is important to deal with the crisis without the unnecessary communal bias and allow things to cool down.


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Navhind Times, July 5, 2008

Adding Fuel to the Violence in the Valley
by INDER MALHOTRA

WHAT should have put an end to the dispute over land allotment to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board that looks after the holy Amarnath cave in northern Kashmir has "sadly though not unexpectedly" turned into an occasion for an escalation in competitive communalism, chauvinism and violence. Apart from further eroding the original Kashmiri ethos of moderation, secularism and tolerance, this cannot but be grist to the mill of separatists in the most sensitive state that has been the focus of jihadi terrorism for nearly two decades. But who cares?

There could have been nothing more irrational, indeed foolish, than the belief that an allotment of a mere 100 acres of degraded forest land to the SASB for construction of temporary shelters for pilgrims for a period of no more than two months a year was the thin end of the wedge that would bring about demographic change in Kashmir, reducing the Muslim majority to a minority. But then it is only fair to recognise that this atavistic fear runs deep in the consciousness of the Kashmiris, and politicians with an axe to grind or fish to fry would never hesitate to exploit it.

On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Vishwa Hindu Pradesh, Bajrang Dal et al, throwing all concepts of national interest and fairness to the winds, have unleashed vicious violence in the Jammu region of the state. The SASB's withdrawal of its request for the forestland and the state government's acquisition of the responsibility for all logistics for the annual pilgrimage, leaving religious rituals entirely to the SASB, had resolved what was essentially a non-issue to begin with. But the votaries of Hindutva are convinced that the Congress-led state government has surrendered to the separatists to appease the Muslims. This, they add, they would not tolerate.

Nor is the divisive campaign confined to Jammu and Kashmir by any means. The BJP president, Mr Rajnath Singh, has announced that agitation over the Amarnath shrine would be extended to the entire country, and the party's prime ministerial candidate, Mr L K Advani, has said that the issue would figure in the Lok Sabha election too. In other words, the BJP has got a potent weapon in its hands and would not let it go until after the parliamentary poll, which the Congress is anxious to delay until as long as possible.

The conduct of those leading the agitation against land allotment remains equally irresponsible. Even though they have won their point, they continue to hold Srinagar and other parts of the valley to ransom, demanding that the Kashmir cabinet's original decision that has already become redundant must be rescinded formally and the cancellation publicised widely. All concerned know, of course, what the consequences of such a step would be.

In this dismal context the most disheartening development has been that even responsible parties of Jammu and Kashmir that have taken turns to rule the state and claim to be both secular and responsible have behaved no better than the worst communalists on both sides of the fence. It is undeniable that when the agitation first began at the instance of avowed secessionists – both the warring factions of Hurriyat promptly united to join the fray – popular response was scanty. Only when the principal Opposition party, the National Conference, led by Mr Farooq Abdullah and his son Mr Omar, got active did the mass support for the agitation surge. Towards the end, the mayhem on the streets of Srinagar and other cities was comparable to the jihadi onslaught in 1990 or the Hazratbal upheaval in 1964 when the whole valley hung with a threat as thin as the purloined hair of the Prophet’s beard that was mercifully recovered.

The People's Democratic Party headed by the former chief minister, Mr Mufti Saeed and his daughter Ms Mehbooba“ that has been Congress's coalition partner since 2002 found it expedient to withdraw from the coalition at once and to back the howling mobs. Ironically, the order the PDP wanted withdrawn immediately was sponsored by one of its own ministers, Mr Mohammad Afzal Qazi. The deputy chief minister, Mr Muzaffar Husain Beg, who needlessly inflamed the situation and eventually led the PDP ministers out of the government, was a party to the cabinet's decision that has now lost its relevance. Yet, even after getting what it belatedly wanted, the PDP refuses to return to the coalition.

The Chief Minister, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad cannot be congratulated either. His constant tussle with the PDP was the worst kept secret of Kashmir. His failure to communicate to the people in good time the utterly harmless nature of land allotment to SASB was abysmal. His government is now in a minority. But he is confident of somehow 'demonstrating his majority' on the floor of the House. This has to be done by July 7.

So much for the state government and the antics of state parties busy devising their crass strategies for the assembly election due in October in any case. It is also without doubt that the state governments that constantly clamour for greater autonomy – and in no other state is this demand more strident than in Kashmir – must also bear the responsibility of cleaning up the mess they habitually create. Even so, Kashmir is not just another state. What began as indigenous militancy born of alienation there was soon overtaken by cross-border terrorism, often sponsored and always supported by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Divisive agitations thus create profound security problems Consequently, the Union government’s neglect to monitor the goings-on there is thoroughly regrettable, to say the least. To slur over the ominous message of the current agitation would be dereliction of duty on part of New Delhi, which should note that Pakistan's Prime Minister, Mr Yousaf Raza Gilani has heightened his rhetoric about the 'aspirations of the Kashmiri people', in contradiction of Mr Asif Ali Zardari's emphasis on the Kashmir issue not being allowed to come in the way of improving India-Pakistan relations.

Finally, one must come to the painful subject of the responsibility for the present happenings of Lieutenant-General S K Sinha (retired) who was governor of Kashmir until June 26 and in that capacity also chairman of the SASB. His motives may have been of the best. But the way he became an activist on behalf of the Amarnath pilgrimage, over which he was at odds with the state government, did cause a lot of friction and tension. His tenure had ended on June 3 but thanks to the Centre's procrastination, combined with his wish to see the Amarnath yatra through until August, the agitation had reached a crescendo by the time he left.

Kashmir's new governor, N N Vohra, who has been defence secretary, Union home secretary and principal secretary to the prime minister, has done well to resolve the dispute quickly. However, he and the state government should also end the system of the governor (provided he or she is a Hindu) heading the SASB and the chief minister (the assumption being that he would always be a Muslim) presiding over the Waqf Board. In this day and age it seems impossible to keep religion out of politics. But surely religion and the state can be kept apart.

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NDTV.com

VHP nationwide bandh cripples life



NDTV Correspondent
Thursday, July 3, 2008 (New Delhi)
After holding Jammu hostage for the past few days, the saffron brigade is taking out protest marches in several parts of the country. Several areas of Chandigarh have been brought to a complete halt with protestors taking out processions. A mob was lathicharged as well.

There's tension in Indore after two people are dead and five are injured. Curfew has been imposed in some areas of the city after protesters clashed with the police.

Tear gas shells were used to disperse the crowd after they pelted stones at the police. Section 144 is in effect in Khajrana area.

As per the latest reports, saffron activists stormed a press conference called by the Hurriyat in Jammu. They broke furniture and tore up papers.

In Delhi, BJP-VHP activists are out on the streets on protest marches. They are forcing several shops to shut down.

In Agra too, the BJP-VHP activists have stopped the Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi at Agra Cant station. They are demonstrating on the tracks.

Protests are on in different parts of the country. The Jammu and Kashmir emporium in Mumbai has been the target of the protesters supporting the bandh.

Near Ludhiana, the Amritsar-Howrah Express has been stopped affecting train traffic between Ambala and Amritsar.

Karnataka, the new bastion of saffron brigade, responded to the call of bandh more effectively in Hubli and Dharwad and schools and colleges are closed in Mysore.

Protesters continue with their demonstration in parts of Punjab and Haryana like Bhatinda, Rajpura, Jallandhar and Karnal. Also, Delhi-Amritsar highway is still blocked near Rajpura.

Man immolates himself

A 28-year-old jeweller immolated himself in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.

The jeweller is in a hospital with 95 per cent burns. The incident happened after he and his brother were allegedly threatened by a Bajrang Dal activist and a head constable because they refused to shut down their shop to observe the bandh.