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| State sitting on a volcano:do not heed rumours | | | Gareeb Dass
Jammu | Aug 2
Kashmiri separatists seem to be happy over the continued turmoil in Jammu over the revocation of land order because as they put it it has
"defined" the concept of Kashmiri statehood.Chairman Peoples'Conference,Sajjad Lone,has,in a statement,saluted brave Kashmiris for having reacted so angrily against the land diversion order that the Government was forced to revoke it.He has said that the turmoil in Jammu,which does not have suffcient response in Doda,Poonch and Rajouri,has endorsed and identified the concept of Kashmiri statehood.
By saying this he seems to be a votary for the idea of carving out greater Kashmir comprising the valley and Poonch,Rajouri and Doda districts..Other separatist leaders,including those belonging to the APHC,are happy over the turn of events.A senior APHC,Prof.Abdul Gani Bhat,has said the turmoil in Jammu has strengthened "our belief in the two-nation theory."He said,"without our asking for it the agitators in Jammu have started clearing the decks for Kashmiri traders and fruit dealers to use Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road for export and import of various commodities."
He did not agree that Kashmiris struck at the roots of secularism by agiating against diversion of 800 kanals of land to the Shrine Board.He claimed that Kashmiris wanted an outlet for giving vent to their feelings and the moment they came to know about the transfer of land to the Shrine Board they staged demonstrations where they did not say anything about the land diversion but cried in favour of "Azadi."These separatists seem to be angry over the blocking of trucks carrying fresh fruit from Kashmir to the markets in Delhi and disrupting movement of goods from Lakhanpur to Kashmir.Prof. Bhat said when "the supply line stands snapped we have no other alternative but to use the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route for sustaining our life line.""Let us go to india via Muzaffarabad.Let us hope the blocking of Jammu-Srinagar highway brings India and Pakistan closer than they are,"Bhat said.
What is amazing is that even these separatists have been buyers of the rumours,circulated in Kashmir,that muslim traders,drivers and mutton sellers in Jammu had been beaten up by the agitators.Eyewitness accounts reveal that trucks,driven by muslims and non-muslims were stopped on the highway.And those who had raised objectionable slogans had been simply slapped.Some trucks were stoned and majority of these trucks were owned by nonmuslims and were driven by non-muslims.hence the question of picking up muslims for attack had never risen at any place on the highway.But the separatists,keen to have greater Kashmir carved out have gone to the extent of telling muslim employees not to go to Jammu when the Durbar opens in the winter capital in November.Bhat said "we will ask muslim employees to avoid going to Jammu with move offices as we do not want them to be killed."
It is quite astonishing to see even the liberal and moderate separatists giving weightage to canards and rumours when they should have realised by now that Muslim organisations have lent support to the ongoing agitation. Sangarh Samiti.Samiti leaders have made it clear umpteen times that the agitation is not directed against any community or ethnic groups but against the Government which had revoked the order.They have said that Jammuites have,over the years demonstrated their
love for maintaining communal amity.Some of the agitators said that "if we demonstrated against Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti it was not a demonstration against muslims but against those who opposed land diversion order." |
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