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| Number of Pilgrims to Amarnathjee may grow to 10 Lakh in 2112 | | SASB will have to look for longer duration of Yatra and additional routes | | Daya Sagar | 6/11/2011 9:08:12 PM |
| The 2008 SASB Land controversy arose after Ghulam Nabi Azad Government in J&K took away the rights of about 800 kanals of land at Baltal from SASB and transferred the Yatra duty to J&K tourism Department. This yea ( 2011) a controversy has arisen as regards the duration of the Sri Amarnath Yatra. Sri Amarnath Shrine Board ( SASB) has fixed the date for start of Yatra as 29 June 2011 and end on 13th Aug.. The duration for Yatra has been officially kept as only 45 days ,Amarnath Yatra Neyaas Samiti and organizations like Vishav Hindu Parishad are alleging that SASB has done so in view of the suggestions made by some separatists elements for limiting the duration and size of Amarnath jee yatra. And now media has reported on 7 JUNE from Srinagar that Omar Abdullah too has commented on yatra saying : “The Yatra will commence as scheduled from June 29 and the government is ready to face any challenge from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other rightwing parties to launch it on June 15.” No doubt Omar Abdullah has simultaneously also said that the yatra route has not been cleared yet and he will not take any chances with the safety of the pilgrims. It would have been so nice , wise , convincing and time appropriate had Omar Abdullah sahib, instead of throwing challenges on those who demand yatra to start earlier and go for longer duration ( even over 60 days weather and security conditions permitting) , only said that it was due to weather , route condition and security reasons that the Yatra is proposed for starting on 29 June and to stay for 45 days ; and in case the weather and security departments suggest and SASB want the Yatra could start even earlier and continue for longer duration. Such an approach would have been surely convincing and any allegations that the programme of the SASB/ Government as drawn for Yatra is influenced by what people like S..A Geelani and Omar Farooq suggest.
A brief speech as was made by Omar Abdullah in Lok Sabha on 22 July 2008 had also added to controversies in 2008. No doubt later Dr. Farooq Abdullah had openly advocated that weather permitting he would like that Yatra extends even for a period more than 60 days . But now in 2011 National Conference is in the power seat and any government should avoid plunging into even a bit of controversy/ conflicts arising out of issues linked with AASTHA..
It can not be so simply denied that Dharmik AASTHA’s do not cultivate so easily. The process starts with getting simple information, knowing more about it, do some critical analysis, have some debates, for some information then become belief, for some belief becomes conviction and then the ultimate it shapes into AASTHA. And in simple common man words it is this AASTHA that we see in those who practice any particular RELIGION / Dharam. It takes centuries / generations for an advice / information to shape into AASTHA. And astha’s are beyond the scope of simple debates/ logics and hence the issues pertaining to AASTHA should be very carefully handled by any government / society. Amarnathjee Shrine / Gufaa / Amarnath yatra are also the issue of HINDU AASTHA and are surely beyond ordinary debates. Ancestors of those who believe in Hindu Dharma surely date back to oldest known times. Ofcourse all faith and dharmas have enshrined in them the cause and welfare of the humanity.
Believers of a Dharma / AASTHA ( may be Hindu or Muslim) can not be made to change their belief simply by the force of law , by the desire of the believers of other faith , by simple mathematical logics : nor any effort should be made in this regard ignoring their sentiments / logics unless such a belief or AASTHA is going to hurt / damage the interests of the believers of other faith.
In the year 2008 controversies were raised as regards Amarnath Yatra and its management . But it could be firmly said that ordinary Kashmiri muslim was not at all responsible for this. ‘The seeds of the Amarnath Jee Shrine Bhoomi andolan 2008 was rather sown by people like Maulvi Farooq and Ali Shah Geelani when they raised the question of Hindu and Musalmaan in the name of land to SASB . They started with misguiding the common Kashmir Muslim by directly or indirectly saying that if the Yatra will go on swelling ( i) for over two months the people of Hindu belief and those practicing Hindu ways of worship would be a so common sight in Kashmir and this would deface the muslim majority image of Kashmir valley (ii ) SASB will extend its activities to setting / rehabilitating Hindu signs, Hindu institutions, and Hindu traditions ( that have apparently faded due to continued enmass migration of local kashmiri hindu since 1989/90 ) ( iii ) it was also advocated indirectly that since the chairman of SASB has to be the Governor , it is more likely that the Governor of J&K will always be a Hindu (iv) number of Hindu Yatries will go on increasing every year.
And after they had inflicted some venom and had not still succeeded in exploiting the enmass sentiments of J&K muslims , they pretended that their objection were for the cause of environment and the local lands/ trade going in the hands of non state subjects.
Kashmiri Muslims of the area around Shri Amarnath Jee Shrine have been all along extending support and hospitality to the pilgrim Hindus. Many Hindu acknowledge that Shri Amarnathjee cave was discovered ( may be rediscovered) by a local bakerwal /Malik Muslim ..But it can not be so simply set aside that the tradition of Shri Amarnathjee yatra is not only 150 years old . Instead this place has been a Pilgrim Shrine in the name of holy abode of Bhagwal Shiv ( Bholae Shankar ) for centuries since times unknown as per Hindu belief. May be in view of some environment hazard or some social disaster long back the pilgrimage to this site was once upon a time discontinued and later on may be around 150 / 200 years back some devotees again made an attempt but could not themselves exactly find the path ;And it was that then some local shepherds of the area lead them to the shrine cave. . Otherwise the story that some elder of Malik family had on his own discovered the Shiva cave and then the Malik ( a muslim ) told the particulars to Hindus about this being the abode of Bhagwan Shiv does not that much stand to a true logic..
National Conference , Congress and PDP should rather work at ground level to properly educate and motivate the common Kashmiri instead of falling prey in the hands of those who are bent upon disturbing the peace and harmony by demanding that duration of Amarnath yatra be limited from 30 to 45 days only.
For limiting the yatra duration to 30-45 days and limiting the number to 10000 to 15000 yatries per day some quote the reasons of security and safety of yatries. But it can not be over looked that the way the Yatra is growing year after year and they way the J&K Chief Minister / Tourism Minister are working hard to attract the tourist to Kashmir valley quoting that conditions are fast improving it may take just one to two years for Yatra to swell to 10 lakh. And in case 10 lac yatri has to go in 45 day yatra period / 29 JUNE to 13 Aug ( hoping that 5 to 10 days are also lost due to bad weather ) imagine how 50000 to 70000 yatries / day would be conducted to and fro on the present two routes / camps ( Pahalgaam and Baltal ) ?. As per the study done by study groups / committees appointed so far it shall not be possible to accommodate so many yatries on present routes in 30 to 45 days. So increasing the duration of yatra could be one solution and in case the weather does not permit , pilgrims will not go and no body will have any logic to accuse the government of interfering in religious matters. The message that Bhagwan Shiva is always” THERE” could well be carried to the pilgrims and Yatra could go beyond Raksha Bandan ( beyond even 60 days duration as far as possible) , conditions permitting. In addition some more routes could be explored . SASB and J&K Sarkaar should avoid controversies. Mata Vaishno Devi yatra too gores round the year ( depending upon the weather ) although some people particularly take yatra during navratras.
It was on 25 June 2008 that the Grand mufti of Kashmir , Bashir u Din , in a meeting of J&K Muslim Personal Law Board passed a fatwa on the Shri Amarnathjee Bhoomi issue . Shri N. N. Vohra had earlier done an act on the advice of Ghulam Nabi Government and those at New Delhi that surprised any well meaning person. The same Ghulam Nabi Azad and ex ministers of his Government defended the 1st July 2008 order regarding the land under question by quoting Mr. Vohra’s letter dated 28th June written as Chairman of SASB. It was the pressure from the Hindu protestors and their Muslim brothers that had forced the Governor’s government in 2008 to offer some peaceful solution and some assurances. May be in 2011 there are some “advisors” to the government who are of the opinion that (inview of the questions being raised from some quarters on the SASS accusing the Samity of having not succeeded in getting the economic losses suffered during the two month long 2008 agitation ) any agitation in the name of Amarnathji Yatra 2011 would not see the 2008 like success. 2008 Jammu Division agitation was not based on regional discrimination, it was based on the AASTHA of Hindu in Shiva. No doubt regional discrimination did add some fuel to the fire. The ASTHAAS do not weaken so easily. Hope Government shall not believe in such counsel and not take any chance. Then also Ministry of home affairs GOI was under the advice that the 2008 Land movement was restricted to only some local leaders of Jammu city and had no support of the masses including the traders .The truthfulness of the agitators could well be seen from the fact that (i) inspite of many items of the agreements signed having remained unfulfilled from government side, and (ii) the sangarsh samiti facing number of allegation from the local traders/ daily bread earners for having not got the assurances / compensation promises fulfilled , still no any agitation approach was adopted.
( Daya Sagar is a Sr coloumnist of Kashmir affairs and a social activist [email protected]).
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