Javaid Naikoo
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Sept 29: Fed up with the Government's hollow promises, Kashmiri Pandits have decided to reconstruct the ruined temples in the Valley without any official assistance. In a first of its kind initiative by the KPs living in the Valley, the Dharmath Trust and Jawala Ji Samti of Pampore, Pulwama, have decided to reconstruct the famous temple at Khrew area of Pampore. To give practical shape to the initiative undertaken, office bearers of both trusts have formed a committee of four members. They include R.L Bhan and R S Jamwal from the Dharmath Trust and M K Raina and Kanwal Krishan from Jawala Ji Samti.
"We are doing it on our own without any assistance from the Government. The estimated cost for the project is Rs 50 lakh. The Dharmath Trust, which looks after 112 temples across the state, will construct Khrew temple as part of saving religious and cultural heritage of KPs in Kashmir," Bhan, who is general manager of the Dharmath Trust, told Early Times. Notably, the successive regimes in the state have ignored repeated pleas of the KPs for passing temple/shrines bill in the Legislative Assembly. This has left the KPs with no option but to collect donations and reconstruct the ruined temples in the Valley. On many occasion KPs staged protests here in demand of their temples/shrines bill which was not passed in the Legislative Assembly.
Apart from the temples/shrines bill, the KPs have also asked the Government to investigate the multi-crore temple land encroachment in Kashmir division, initiate dialogue with Pakistan for facilitating visit of devotees to Shardha Peeth temple in Pakistani Kashmir, establish Shardha Peeth University in J&K, one-time compensation for the over-aged unemployed KPs and a special employment package for the Pandits living in the Valley.
In 2009,the temples/shrines bill was introduced in the Assembly, and later in 2013, the bill was referred to the Select Committee headed by then Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mir Saifullah , who then submitted the Committee's report in the state Assembly as well.
KPs believe that Congress and BJP joined hands and blocked the passage of the Bill with an excuse that that it would divide the Hindus of J&K.The KPs demand enactment of the bill on the lines of Waqaf Board of Muslims and the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee of Sikhs in Kashmir division. |
