Jammu and Kashmir is burning and the tragedy is that a non-issue has created a situation where not only the two regions of the State stand divided, but a situation is fast developing where the conflict will not only divide people on regional lines but also on communal lines. The unfortunate part is that the crisis is purely man-made or to put it more bluntly made by politicians who in their desire for picking up votes in the coming elections to the State Assembly have divided people who had stood united even when the entire sub-continent was caught up in communal frenzy immediately after freedom.
The issue of providing facilities for pilgrims visiting the holy cave of Amarnath in Kashmir hills is something on which all agree, the differences arise only on the issue of the agency which should undertake this work. The strange part is that the pilgrimage has been managed for several decades by the State Tourism department and the local people who literally carried the pilgrims on their backs or on the horses provided by them.
The pilgrims were Hindus and those who made the pilgrimage possible were all Muslims, but different religions never created any problem between the pilgrims and those who provided services to make it possible. Even the part of offerings at the shrine were shared by a local family which had discovered the cave after it had been buried under debris. Few years ago, the State Government headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah decided to form a Shrine Board to look after pilgrimage and decided to make the State Governor as ex-officio chairman of the Board.
This was done on the basis of a twisted logic that as the Waqf Board looking after religious places of Muslims is headed by Chief Minister who is a Muslim so the Shrine Board be headed by the Governor who is a Hindu. Unfortunately, the Governor at that time Gen Sinha a retired Army Officer decided to enlarge the scope of Yatra as had been done previously by his predecessor in case of Vaishno Devi. But mistake made by him was that he did not realize that in case of shrine Board, the chairman is a non-State subject while Vaishno Devi shrine affairs are managed by locals.
Under the State laws no outsider can own land in Kashmir, nor be entitled to Government jobs or vote in elections to the State Assembly or stand as a candidate. They can vote in the parliamentary elections. This subtle distinction was overlooked by the Governor. He also went in for direct confrontation with State Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed when he tried to extend the Yatra for a period of two months instead of one. He did not appreciate the fact that deployment of security forces to guard large number of pilgrims for such a long period will give opportunity to militants to do mischief in other parts of the State as the security forces presence became thin in view of large deployment for Yatra.
All these considerations were conveniently overlooked by the State Government while allowing transfer of land to shrine board. The militants used this as a ploy to spread rumors that this was an attempt to settle outsiders in Kashmir to upset the current composition in the State. The issue became so emotive that all sections of opinion joined hands in protest and administrations stood totally isolated. The Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who thanks to his inability to understand the undercurrents ended up in loosing the power as well as provoking both the regions when he decided to withdraw the allotment order for land. So at present Government is facing serious challenges in both the regions.
It seems to be a repeat of Babri Masjid story where by its ill timed act of opening the mosque it lost the sympathies of Hindus as well as Muslims and gave an opportunity to Saffron brigade to make Ram temple an issue which not only led to demolition of the mosque but also resulted in communal riots all-over the country in which many lives were lost and property worth crores destroyed.
Thanks to the current crisis both regions of Jammu and Kashmir are suffering today. Besides great economic loss due to prolonged Bandhs and economic blockade, serious
Shortages have developed in Kashmir Valley with demands being made to open up the alternative route of Kashmir to Pakistan. The Centre has realized the mistakes made and is trying to persuade BJP to join in efforts to diffuse the crisis. There is little hope of success as the issue has made BJP again relevant in Jammu region where it had suffered serious losses in last elections.
In the midst of growing crisis, some voices of sanity are also being heard. The solutions suggested by Dr Abdullah and Dr Karan Singh that instead of Governor a local and a State subject be asked to head the shrine board deserves serious consideration. If people n Kashmir are satisfied by making it clear that no outsiders are being brought in to upset the Kashmiri identity and Jammu is convinced that no one likes to prevent pilgrims from visiting holy cave or providing facilities to them, a way out can be explored to cool the tempers. Jammu and Kashmir region are linked economically, politically and administratively and any attempt to undermine these links will harm both the regions.
One only hopes that voices of sanity will prevail and bring early end to the present situation of confrontation between the two regions as that has long term implications for the country and will create problems internationally as it has potential of acting as a short fuse to push the sub-continent into a serious confrontation.
Brij Bhardwaj, [NPA]
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