MEDIA RELEASE
The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister's Office
South Block, Raisina Hills
New Delhi
Sub: An appeal to defuse the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir
August 13, 2008
Dear Dr Manmohan Singh,
The death of 5 people in firing in Baramulla is very disturbing to say the least. The recent move of the Government to take an all party delegation to J&K to restore peace and harmony while a welcome step, came a bit too late and the outcome of its efforts have been too little. Both the regions of state are having severe problems. The agitation started by Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (AYSS) has blockaded the route to Kashmir valley and there are severe attacks on Kashmiris and Muslims living in Jammu area. The agitation had begun in the valley with the transfer of land to Shrine board. Now the material suffering of valley's people, blocking of their supplies by agitation of AYSS is threatening to create severe repercussion in the valley the results of which may be very adverse.
Amarnath yatra has been one of the major religious tourism activities of the state, well managed by the local population, mainly Muslims of the area, till 2001 when Shri Amranath Shrine Board (SASB) was formed and it took over the arrangements of the pilgrimage. SASB had Governor of the state as the chief and Governor's Principal Secretary as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Gradually the SASB started asserting beyond its mandate, e.g. going on to construct shelters and structures on Pehalgam Golf Course, mainly due to the clout of the Governor who headed this body. In 2005 SASB, contrary to the laws, was granted the permission to use the forest land for the tourists. Incidentally, CEO's wife was the forest officer who cleared this highly illegal demand of the shrine board. This started the process, which ultimately went out of hands of the local government. Due to some intervention and some subtle pressures from the higher ups the matters have come to a sorry pass. While Government initially opposed the order of the forest department, the high court stayed Government's decision. Following this the state Govt.'s buckling and transferring, and then cancelling the land transfer, to SASB started the process which today is threatening to destroy the efforts towards peace built over the period of decades.
It is interesting to note that Amaranth yatra by Hindus is rooted in one of the most mixed support structures; the cave where shrine is located was discovery of a Muslim Shepherd, Malik, in 1850s, since when the pilgrimage picked up. The descendents of the Malik family have been part of the management of the yatra till 2001. With SASB taking over, it started giving a Hindu tilt to the organizing process and the promotion of yatra went on at a hectic pace. The result was that there occurred a great increase in the number of pilgrims, from 12000 in 1989 to 400,000 in 2007. The period of yatra was extended from 2 weeks to 10 weeks and this resulted in adverse environmental effects, tons of human excreta and plastic material converted the nearby beautiful Lidder River into a sewer. It was one of the major reasons for melting of lingam, revered by the devotees, and attempts were made to put it into shape by putting dry ice. While BJP is calling for restriction of pilgrims to a particular number, e.g. 150 per day in Gangotri and Gomukh, for environmental reasons, here the unrestricted number of pilgrims and the aggressive promotion of the same are destroying the ecological balance of the hills. Also due to the patronage of the Governor the Shrine board virtually took over the functioning of Pehlagam Development authority.
The order of the Government transferring the land to SASB did result in the threat perception in already intimidated the Kashmiri residents of the valley. The perception that the land is being given to change the demographic composition of the valley affected the social thinking. One of the reasons for this perception was the common knowledge there that such a suggestion was given by Shimon Peres, the Israeli Foreign minister to Lal Krishna Advani, a few years ago. The spontaneous breaking out of protest in valley was used by Syed Ali Shah Gilani, belonging to the extremist faction of Hurriat Conference, who went on to fan the fire during the agitations and further aggravated the situation by calling for boycott of polls to be held in October,.
As such what a tragic pass we have landed ourselves into. Kashmir was the place of highest synthesis of diverse streams of our culture. Kashmiriyat stood for values of Vedanta, teaching of Gautam Buddha and the Sufi saints. Sixty years since the treaty of accession has been signed, its clauses were violated with impunity and military solution has been the main instrument of our action. The army which is meant to fight the external enemy is the mainstay of our policies there. This needs severe introspection.
The people of Jammu also have suffered due to their problems being neglected. There is a widespread feeling that problems of Valley are being addressed by the Center and Jammu region is being neglected. Genuine effort for all round redressal of grievances is the need of the hour. The incitement by sectarian elements and the communal elements has to be confronted head on by an active process of reconciliation, restoration of peace through dialogue with all the grieving parties and other components of civil society. There is an urgent need to recognize the wrongs done in last few years, wrongs which are contrary to the forest laws, and the norms about shrines. No where in the country any holy place has been allotted any part of a forest land, nowhere in the country the assertion and dominance of temple trusts or Dargah boards has been meekly accepted beyond the confines of its own boundaries, as in the case of SASB.
* We urge upon you sir, to take the matters with utmost seriousness and take further the efforts, undertaken by your Government, which are just a small beginning.
* Foremost of the measures needed is to lift the blockade of the valley by the agitators and to restore the supplies to the valley and transport of fruits from valley to the markets of the country.
* We urge upon you to immediately convene a high powered meeting involving SASB, Kashmir's Action Committee, representatives of political parties and civil society to find a peaceful solution to the imbroglio.
* We urge upon you to review the functioning of SASB which has assertively acted in direction which are contrary to norms.
* The society must prevail upon the communal and sectarian elements to postpone any call for agitation till normalcy is restored in the valley, and the results of dialogue process are made public.
We are sure you will consider these proposals to ensure peace and amity in the country as a whole.
Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal
Apoorvanand
Arundhati Dhuru
Dhruv Sangari
Dunu Roy
Ganesh Devy
Ghanshyam Shah
Indu Prakash Singh
Jatin Desai
Jaya Mehta(Dr)
KM Shrimali (Prof)
KN Panikkar
Kumkum Sangari
Lalit Surjan
Mahendra Sangari
Mansi Sharma
Nandita Das
Ram Puniyani (Dr)
Saif Ahmed Khan
Sandeep Pandey
Shabnam Hashmi
Tapan Bose
Uma Chakravorty
Vineet Tiwari
Zafar Agha
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