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| Amarnath Yatra, Omar-Vohra connection | | Meddling with religious beliefs | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, June 5: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's three and a half year tenure has seen Jammu and Kashmir passing worst of the times. And when it comes to Amarnath Yatra, Omar is reminded of the comment which changed the course of 2008 land agitation.
Omar made an emotive speech and ended it by saying that not an inch of land belonging to Kashmiris would be given to the Amarnath land agitators. The comment changed the face of the agitation. A commoner, Kuldeep Verma sacrificed his life but not before leaving an emotive letter for Jammuites. The letter made a mention of Omar talking about not returning the Amarnath land to the Hindus, who had been demanding it.
Omar's comments actually helped cause of several Hindu organizations and in turn, brought doom to Congress, which under the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was expecting miraculous election results.
Azad had made a mark in Kashmir valley and was on the lip of every commoner in Jammu. If Omar's speech moved everyone in the parliament, his words helped the agitation of 2008 to gain momentum and then,
there was no looking back. Azad's good work was a history. State was virtually divided into Hindu Jammu and Muslim Kashmir. Though the agitation in Jammu largely remained secular yet the divide was complete between the two regions. Omar Abdullah knew little about consequences which his "not an inch of land" comment would have for National Conference across the state. Things went from bad to worst. Under trying circumstances, assembly elections were held. NC secured the top slot followed by PDP and Congress. Omar was crowned by New Delhi as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. PDP was made to sit in the opposition. And since that day, duration of Amarnath Yatra has become a bone of contention between government and various Hindu organisations. Every year, Hindu organisations are seen protesting against the curtailment of Yatra duration. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has seemingly not learnt any lesson from the year 2008. Political maturity is a thing which still seems yards away from him. Making a comment that God is preventing Amarnath pilgrims from proceeding towards the cave shrine and not his government, observers are of the opinion that Omar seems to have decided to deepen fissures between two regions. Political maturity teaches you patience and appropriate use of words while making a comment.
If the Chief Minister is young and politically juvenile, Bureaucrat turned Governor of Jammu and Kashmir N.N.Vohra is stubborn and has seemingly been unable to give up his bureaucratic ego. He has preferred to keep the pot boiling by framing one committee after another to somehow curtail duration of Amarnath Yatra. The committees have reported and recommended 40 day Yatra. Vohra has been unable to convince commoners why he is interested in keeping the pot boiling and allowing the Hindu organisations to spread a word that they are not being allowed to take a religious journey according to 'ages old Hindu traditions'. His committees do include Hindu priests but it is also a fact that none of them have a wide acceptance among Shivite Hindus.
The religious seers of Kashi, Haridwar, Mathura and Ayodhya alongwith hardcore Shivite priests are not in agreement with what the board members of Amarnath Shrine have advocated with regard to duration of Amarnath Yatra. They are insisting on two months duration of Yatra and saying that it aptly fits the dates mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures. They have acceptance among common Hindus and it is their word on Yatra which matters.
However, Vohra being a retired bureaucrat is seemingly doubly sure about controlling the masses with his administrative machinery. He has police, paramilitary forces and army backing him up. But a flashback at the events of year 2008 ostensibly shows that nothing works when you have people in hundreds and thousands on the roads with tricolours in their hands. Vohra needs to take a non-bureaucratic look at the emerging situation and with Omar Abdullah try to see reason in tinkering with the issue of religious faith of a particular community.
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