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| Is Geelani setting the agenda for Government? | | News ANALYSIS | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 2: Who is setting the agenda for Jammu & Kashmir Government, which is headed by National Conference and supported to the hilt by Congress? Believe it or not, it is chairman of Tehrik-e-Hurriyat Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who is setting the agenda for the Government. Geelani is known for his pro-Pakistan views and rabid opposition to the annual Amarnath Yatra. He is also known for his exclusivist and regressive ideology. He is one of the several Kashmiri fundamentalists, including the so-called mainstream Kashmir leaders, who cleansed the Valley of all or almost all non-Muslims and converted it into one-community region more than two decades ago. It is a different story that NC president and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah says that "Kashmir is a peer vaer (land of saints and sufies), and everyone has lived here in communal harmony" and that "we will not allow anyone to dilute Kashmiriyat".
That it is Geelani who has been setting the agenda could be seen from the response his opposition to the idea of widening of road leading up to Amarnath Cave Shrine has been getting from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father Farooq Abdullah since last month. It bears recalling that Geelani had issued an outrageous statement in response to the recent directions of the Supreme Court Bench to the Shrine Board and state government that roads leading up to Amarnath cave be widened and other required facilities created before the commencement of 2013 Amarnath Yatra. His statement was to the effect that the NC, in collaboration with New Delhi, had planned to change Kashmir's demography, destroy its ecology and pollute its environment. He also had warned the state government of dire consequences in the event of the authorities giving an effect to the Supreme Court directions.
What was the response of the Chief Minister? The Chief Minister took no time in allaying the "fears" of Geelani. He asked him to use official helicopter and see for himself that the State Government had not widened any road leading to Amarnath Cave or planned to widen the said road. He had reassured Geelani that the State Government will neither widen the road nor take any step that destroyed the area's ecology and polluted its environment. And what did Farooq Abdullah yesterday say in Srinagar on this issue? He said that Geeelani "is lying to the people on the issue of road widening or construction along the routes leading to Holy Cave Shrine of Amarnath" and that "the entire media has had an aerial tour and taken a first hand look at the route and not found a single road being constructed anywhere". "Where do you (Geelani) get this false information from"?, he also asked.
What Omar Abdullah said earlier and what Farooq Abdullah said yesterday only convey one message: We will not respect the Supreme Court directions; we will not widen the road to make the Yatra a smooth and trouble-free affair; we will not do anything that hurts Geelani and other fanatics in Kashmir. As for the Congress, it has been watching the activities of its coalition partner and the likes of Geelani as a mute spectator. In fact, it has no opinion of its own on the issue. This is the nature of administration which the NC and Congress have handed down in a state being considered secular and democratic.
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