06-26-2008, 08:11 AM
Azad, Sinha, precipitated crisis: Mehbooba Mufti
Praveen Swami
âI was not consulted on transfer of land to Amarnath Shrine Boardâ
âYoung people across Kashmir feel their identity and culture are threatenedâ
âPolicy-makers responsible for the communal conflagrationâ
SRINAGAR: Peopleâs Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti has lashed out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the former Jammu and Kashmir Governor and Shrine Board head, S.K. Sinha, saying their decision to grant land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board precipitated a crisis, which was turning into a calamity.
Speaking to The Hindu from London, where she is attending a conference, Ms. Mehbooba said the PDP would insist on the revocation of the order issued in May, allowing the Shrine Board to provide temporary accommodation to pilgrims on 40 hectares of forest land.
Young people across Kashmir were out on the streets today, she said, because they felt their identity and culture were threatened. They were not terrorists or criminals. If their legitimate demands were not met, the consequences would be horrible.
Ms. Mufti said PDP Ministers in the State Cabinet had shot down proposals to transfer land to the Shrine Board on three separate occasions.
âWe made it perfectly clear the PDP could not support the idea. We explained to both the Chief Minister and the Governor that, whatever the niceties and legalities of their plans might be, the grant would be understood by many in Kashmir as opening the floodgates for outsiders to seize land. We also said that the State government could provide the pilgrims whatever they needed, so what was the need to transfer land?â
However, Ms. Mufti could offer no explanation of how Minister for Forests Qazi Mohammad Afzal, a PDP legislator, granted permission for the use of land by the Shrine Board.
âIâve no idea how it made it through the Cabinet in the end, but neither I nor my father was consulted on this. As such, it did not have the support of the PDP. I cannot imagine what the Chief Minister thought he was achieving by pushing through a proposal he knew did not have our support,â she said.
Ms. Mehbooba said responsibility for the communal conflagration lay with policy-makers who mistook the appearance of peace for normality.
âSome people thought they could do anything now that there was a decline in shootings and bombings,â Ms. Mufti said. âThey thought there was no need to address the underlying resentments, anxieties and concerns of the people of Kashmir. Now, you can see the consequences.â
Sensitivities
âWhen my father became Chief Minister, he was often charged with being a communalist. I have faced the same allegations. But the fact is that in Jammu and Kashmir, there are sensitivities that have to be understood and engaged with. You have to respect the way people feel,â she said.
Ms. Mehbooba said Mr. Sinha showed little respect for local Muslim sensitivities, choosing instead to act like a conqueror. He made the Shrine Board and the Amarnath pilgrimage symbols of Indiaâs control of Jammu and Kashmir, she argued, not a normal religious activity which had been nurtured and supported by the Stateâs people for centuries. Local residents who made a living from the pilgrimage, like porters and pack-animal providers, were forced to pay registration fees, while being denied opportunities to provide pilgrims with housing and food. As a result, the bonds which existed between pilgrims and the local people broke.
âShow maturityâ
âWe expect the Congress central leadership to show maturity now in the national interest,â Ms. Mehbooba concluded. âSome people say that if the government revokes the order, it will cost the Congress support in Jammu. Perhaps it will. But are four or five seats more important than the future of Jammu and Kashmir? I feel the Congress needs to demonstrate the same maturity Prime Minister Indira Gandhi demonstrated when she made Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Chief Minister again, understanding that brute power could not win the love of a people.â
Praveen Swami
âI was not consulted on transfer of land to Amarnath Shrine Boardâ
âYoung people across Kashmir feel their identity and culture are threatenedâ
âPolicy-makers responsible for the communal conflagrationâ
SRINAGAR: Peopleâs Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti has lashed out at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the former Jammu and Kashmir Governor and Shrine Board head, S.K. Sinha, saying their decision to grant land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board precipitated a crisis, which was turning into a calamity.
Speaking to The Hindu from London, where she is attending a conference, Ms. Mehbooba said the PDP would insist on the revocation of the order issued in May, allowing the Shrine Board to provide temporary accommodation to pilgrims on 40 hectares of forest land.
Young people across Kashmir were out on the streets today, she said, because they felt their identity and culture were threatened. They were not terrorists or criminals. If their legitimate demands were not met, the consequences would be horrible.
Ms. Mufti said PDP Ministers in the State Cabinet had shot down proposals to transfer land to the Shrine Board on three separate occasions.
âWe made it perfectly clear the PDP could not support the idea. We explained to both the Chief Minister and the Governor that, whatever the niceties and legalities of their plans might be, the grant would be understood by many in Kashmir as opening the floodgates for outsiders to seize land. We also said that the State government could provide the pilgrims whatever they needed, so what was the need to transfer land?â
However, Ms. Mufti could offer no explanation of how Minister for Forests Qazi Mohammad Afzal, a PDP legislator, granted permission for the use of land by the Shrine Board.
âIâve no idea how it made it through the Cabinet in the end, but neither I nor my father was consulted on this. As such, it did not have the support of the PDP. I cannot imagine what the Chief Minister thought he was achieving by pushing through a proposal he knew did not have our support,â she said.
Ms. Mehbooba said responsibility for the communal conflagration lay with policy-makers who mistook the appearance of peace for normality.
âSome people thought they could do anything now that there was a decline in shootings and bombings,â Ms. Mufti said. âThey thought there was no need to address the underlying resentments, anxieties and concerns of the people of Kashmir. Now, you can see the consequences.â
Sensitivities
âWhen my father became Chief Minister, he was often charged with being a communalist. I have faced the same allegations. But the fact is that in Jammu and Kashmir, there are sensitivities that have to be understood and engaged with. You have to respect the way people feel,â she said.
Ms. Mehbooba said Mr. Sinha showed little respect for local Muslim sensitivities, choosing instead to act like a conqueror. He made the Shrine Board and the Amarnath pilgrimage symbols of Indiaâs control of Jammu and Kashmir, she argued, not a normal religious activity which had been nurtured and supported by the Stateâs people for centuries. Local residents who made a living from the pilgrimage, like porters and pack-animal providers, were forced to pay registration fees, while being denied opportunities to provide pilgrims with housing and food. As a result, the bonds which existed between pilgrims and the local people broke.
âShow maturityâ
âWe expect the Congress central leadership to show maturity now in the national interest,â Ms. Mehbooba concluded. âSome people say that if the government revokes the order, it will cost the Congress support in Jammu. Perhaps it will. But are four or five seats more important than the future of Jammu and Kashmir? I feel the Congress needs to demonstrate the same maturity Prime Minister Indira Gandhi demonstrated when she made Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Chief Minister again, understanding that brute power could not win the love of a people.â