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| Pro Zakir Musa slogans greet Sri Sri in Srinagar, forced to leave programme midway | | Melee, mismanagement at SKICC | |  Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 10: Spiritual guru and founder of Art of Living, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had to cut short his speech at a programme here after he was greeted by 'pro-militant' slogans like 'Musa Musa Zakir Musa'.
The spiritual guru had hardly started his speech when a group of people stood up and started raising slogans against him and the organizers of the programme. The protesters said that they have been 'deceived' and 'cheated' by the organizers. The intensity of the protests forced Sri Sri to leave the programme midway.
Sri Sri was in the town to deliver his speech at a programme entitled 'Paigam-e-Mohabbat' (message of love). The programme was organized by Jammu & Kashmir Coordination Committee (JKCC) and the venue was Sher-I-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC). The idea behind organizing this event was to find a lasting solution to the age old Kashmir 'conflict'.
A group of people who had come all the way from the border district of Kupwara said that they were told by the organizers that they would be given some financial assistance for setting up their own units. They said that they got perplexed as the spiritual guru started talking about peace and peace initiatives.
"We are not against peace and peace initiatives but for that many confidence building measures have to be taken. Some of us were told that we would be given money in order to start our own businesses. As we reached here we were witness to an entirely different situation and we feel cheated as well as deceived," said this group of people. This group of people joined by scores of other raised slogans against the organizers of the programme. They also shouted loudly against the spiritual guru saying that he should first understand the ground situation and then deliver sermons on peace and importance of peace in the contemporary society.
During the melee some of the protesters started raising slogans in favour of militants especially Zakir Musa. Slogans like 'Musa Musa Zakir Musa' reverberated at the conference hall of the venue. The organizers of the programme were wonder struck as soon as 'pro-militant' slogans were raised by some participants.
A group of people who had taken loans from different banks and other financial institutions said that they were told that the loans would be waived off if they took part in the programme. Some others said that they were informed that domestic animals like cows would be given to them at the programme so that they could eke out a living.
A group of women who claimed to be Anganwari workers and helpers from Kupwara said that they were told that some important meeting is going to be held in Srinagar and they had to take part in it. They said that they got surprised when none among the participants turned out to be their colleagues. These women also gave a vent to their feelings much to the discomfiture of the organizers. Following the protests the spiritual guru had to leave the venue midway. He later on addressed a press conference in which he highlighted the importance of peace in conflict resolution. He asked the youth of valley to play their part in bringing about peace. |
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