07-03-2008, 05:54 PM
Pilgrims deserve better
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->It is distressing and alarming that communal tension is rising over the decision of the Jammu and Kashmir [Images] state government to transfer a little less than 40 hectares of land to the Sri Amarnathji Shrine Board to enable the latter to provide accommodation facilities to the thousands of Hindu pilgrims who visit the Amarnath shrine every summer. One cannot expect separatist and militant outfits in Jammu and Kashmir to make a sober and mature appraisal of the larger issues at stake. It is the attitude of mainstream political parties that is most disappointing and worrying.
The specious grounds for the the Peoples Democratic Party's objections are that the implementation of the decision of the state government would change the "eco-cultural character" of the state. <b>What is the nature of this eco-cultural character of Jammu and Kashmir that is so fragile that it cannot survive the transfer of a small tract of land? Does the Kashmir valley have only a "Muslim" character? </b>What happened to the much-touted Kashmiriyat? Or is that a politically correct platitude that has become an inconvenience to be ignored now that most of the Kashmiri Pandits have been hounded out of their homes in the Valley to Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere in India? Kashmiri politicians owe it to the rest of India to clarify their position on this issue.
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read more at Rediff site.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->It is distressing and alarming that communal tension is rising over the decision of the Jammu and Kashmir [Images] state government to transfer a little less than 40 hectares of land to the Sri Amarnathji Shrine Board to enable the latter to provide accommodation facilities to the thousands of Hindu pilgrims who visit the Amarnath shrine every summer. One cannot expect separatist and militant outfits in Jammu and Kashmir to make a sober and mature appraisal of the larger issues at stake. It is the attitude of mainstream political parties that is most disappointing and worrying.
The specious grounds for the the Peoples Democratic Party's objections are that the implementation of the decision of the state government would change the "eco-cultural character" of the state. <b>What is the nature of this eco-cultural character of Jammu and Kashmir that is so fragile that it cannot survive the transfer of a small tract of land? Does the Kashmir valley have only a "Muslim" character? </b>What happened to the much-touted Kashmiriyat? Or is that a politically correct platitude that has become an inconvenience to be ignored now that most of the Kashmiri Pandits have been hounded out of their homes in the Valley to Jammu, Delhi and elsewhere in India? Kashmiri politicians owe it to the rest of India to clarify their position on this issue.
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read more at Rediff site.