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| Duration of Shri Amarnath Yatra | | Avoidable Controversy | | Neha
JAMMU, May 14: In 2004, a rare event took place. That year, in the month of Shravana, three Poornimas were to occur and the first Poornima was on July 2. Several religious organizations and social groups urged the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board as well as the State Government to extend the duration of Shri Amarnath Yatra. They wanted the duration of Yatra from July 2 to August 30 (day of the Rakhsa Bandhan Poornima) considering the significance of the event. The Shrine Board under the then Governor took no time in accepting the suggestion taking into consideration the religious sensitivities of the people and decided to enhance the pilgrimage duration. (Governor of the State is the ex-officio chairman of the Shrine Board.) It announced that the pilgrimage would commence on July 2. It also announced that while the Baltal route would remain open for the pilgrims from July 2 to August 30, the Pahalgam route would be thrown open only from August 1. The Shrine Board sent a communication to the Government to this effect immediately so that it could start making arrangements for the security of the pilgrims and other related matters.
The then Chief Minister opposed the suggestion and insisted that the duration of pilgrimage should not exceed one month as was the case before. He opposed the Board's decision on the grounds that the extension in the duration of pilgrimage would mean keeping the security forces deployed in strength along the route to the cave and base camps for such a long period and that "it was not advisable from the security point of view".
The arguments of the Chief Minister were untenable and all the more because he, along with a few of his colleagues in the Ministry and some senior bureaucrats, had earlier extensively toured several countries in order to induce foreigners to visit the salubrious Kashmir. Everywhere he talked of the improved security scenario in Kashmir. His Government not only strove to attract tourists from foreign countries, but also from all over India. His stated objective was to promote international and domestic tourism and enrich the Kashmir's economy, as also to meet the needs and urges of those engaged in tourism industry in the Valley.
The opposition of the State Government to the proposal of the Shrine Board created a sort of furore in Jammu and other parts of the country. A number of Hindu religious groups and political parties like the BJP organized protest demonstrations. One of the organizations Punjab Shiv Sewa Samiti (SSS), Rajpura, (District Patiala), even approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on July 13, 2004. The president of Punjab SSS, Ram Pal Bathonia, himself an advocate, urged the High Court to direct the State Government not to interfere with the Shrine Board's decisions, including its decision to acquire more land for creating facilities for the pilgrims, start helicopter service and create air-condition facilities at the cave to increase the longevity of the ice lingam.
The Shrine Board and its chairman stuck to their stand. The Governor said that the expansion in the scope and duration of the pilgrimage had become imperative in view of the special circumstances. He also expressed the view that the manifold increase in the number of devotees and the extension in the duration of the pilgrimage would heighten the process of national integration and improve the State's economic health.
The conflict between him and the Chief Minister created a peculiar situation in the State. The people of Jammu province and several political and Hindu organizations, including the BJP, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and the RSS, stood solidly behind the State Governor. They repeatedly accused the Chief Minister of "outraging the Hindu sentiments" and "vitiating" the Amarnath pilgrimage. They threatened massive protests. Their unstinted support to the Governor and bitter opposition to the State Government created an awkward position for the Congress, whose core constituency was Jammu. Almost all the Jammu-based Congress Ministers opposed the Chief Minister's line and openly made common cause with those supporting the Governor's decision.
The pressure exerted by the Jammu-based Congress Ministers and legislators and the possibility of serious political explosions in Jammu and elsewhere in the country over this sensitive issue left the Central leadership and the Union Government with no option but to intervene in the matter and amicably resolve the controversy. The Central Government assigned this task to the then Union Parliamentary Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad. A compromise formula was suggested. According to the formula, the duration of the pilgrimage would be neither two months nor one month but it would be forty five days. A meeting between the Governor and the Chief Minister was arranged. Both of them accepted the formula on June 29. In fact, they issued a joint statement to this effect on that day. The Governor felt satisfied because the Shrine Board succeeded in extending the pilgrimage period from one month to at least forty five days. The Chief Minister also felt satisfied because he succeeded in curtailing the pilgrimage duration from the proposed two months to forty five days.
Things in Jammu are again assuming alarming proportions, with several socio-religious and political organizations urging the Shrine Board not to reduce the period of pilgrimage and start the Yatra from June 4, instead of June 20. The Shrine Board needs to respect the religious sensitivities of the devotees of Lord Shiva. It is an avoidable controversy. Governor, NN Vohra would do well to accept the demand and establish his secular credentials. Not to do so or to stick to the decision of the Shrine Board that the duration of the Yatra would be 39 days, instead of two months, would only provoke the devotees of Lord Shiva to accuse him of dancing to the tunes of the Kashmiri extremists. |
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