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| Dr Karan Singh finally breaks his silence | | Duration of Amarnath Yatra | | Neha
JAMMU, Aug 25: Former Sadar-e-Riyasat of Jammu & Kashmir and Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha, Dr Karan Singh, has finally broken his silence and suggested that it is imperative to increase duration of Amarnath yatra so that as many pilgrims could pay obeisance at the holy cave shrine. Dr Karan Singh and his ancestors remained intimately associated with the yatra for no less than one hundred years. In fact, from March 1846, when Kashmir was merged with Jammu Kingdom, to 1947, when the State acceded to India, it was the Dogra Maharajas under whose skilful leadership that the yatra was managed. Even after the State's accession to India, Dr Karan Singh took deep interest in the yatra. He himself started paying obeisance at the holy cave shrine from 1949 onwards.
Dr Karan Singh did say that earlier the yatra duration used to be a 10 day affair, but said times have changed, as the number of those wishing to pay obeisance at the shrine cave has increased manifold and continues to increasing. He expressed unhappiness saying it is "strange that the yatra duration is decreasing", instead of increasing. He obviously referred to the negative attitude of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which is being headed at present by NN Vohra, State Governor.
Ever since Vohra took over as chairman of the Shrine Board, the duration of yatra has been regularly curtailed under one pretext or the other. People and a number of political parties say that State Governor Vohra, who is ex-officio chairman of the Shrine Board, has no interest in the yatra and that he is interested more in pleasing the critics of the Amarnath yatra in Kashmir than in creating an environment that induces more and more devotees to visit the holy cave shrine. They appear to be correct when one takes into consideration his role during the 2008 Amarnath land row. He had then asked the State Government to manage the yatra and take back from the Shrine Board the Baltal land which the State Government had allotted to the Shrine Board on a temporary basis to create facilities for the pilgrims during the yatra period. He had said the Shrine Board didn't require the Baltal land. It was this that had made the people of Jammu and parties like the BJP demand his immediate recall from the State.
Dr Karan Singh has only shared the views of those who want the Shrine Board to enhance the yatra period so that more and more pilgrims get an opportunity to visit the cave shrine and pay obeisance there. He made his point by referring to the weather conditions in Europe. He said "if the people in Switzerland can live there for 12 months a year and in Europe there is always a heavy snowfall but the people don't stop working in winter season and can't we send a road clearing equipment to the track which can clear it at the earliest". He made a valid point.
It bears recalling that Dr Karan Singh had also intervened when the Amarnath land row was at its zenith. On August 5, 2008, he had suggested a 5-point formula. He had not spoken a word till then. His formula was: Recall Governor NN Vohra and appoint in his place General (retd) JJ Singh, reconstitute the Shrine Board, appoint former Supreme Court Chief Justice AS Anand as chairman of the SASB, provide facilities to pilgrims and management of facilities by the SASB during the yatra period. Besides, he had demanded compensation for the family members of those who got killed in police action.
Believe it or not, but it is a fact that the Congress had immediately distanced itself from Dr Karan Singh's suggestions, especially his suggestion that Vohra be immediately replaced because it was during his time as chairman of the SASB that the second phase of agitation had started in the State. The Congress said whatever Dr Karan Singh had suggested was his "personal view". But it had no impact whatever on him. He held his ground firmly and asserted that the removal of Vohra was "necessary to cool down tempers in Jammu." "There is a perception that Vohra is responsible for the present crisis as he abruptly gave up the claim for the land as soon as he took over as the Governor," he told all this to Karan Thapar in the CNBC TV 18's India Tonight programme on August 7. He had also told Thapar that he would give his proposal to the AICC president "once she returns from China". He had acknowledged that he had never seen "this sort of uprising in Jammu which cuts across all barriers of caste, creed and religion", that "it is the outcome of resentment for decades" and that the protests were the "result of discrimination between the Valley and Jammu".
Dr Karan Singh's one of the most significant observations was the one that he made on August 19 during his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He told the Prime Minister that "the situation in Jammu is worsening and the conflict is between the nationalist and anti-national forces" and that "it is the moral duty of the nation to protect the nationalist people" (Early Times, August 20, 2008). |
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