Amarnath Land Deal

[Bodhi]

Making an appearance in the Capital on Sunday, the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti (SASS) struck a defiant note, saying its agitation in Jammu shall not stop until the Government has made available the 100-acre land for the Amarnath Yatra.

SASS convener Leela Karan Sharma also announced that the agitation would be taken to “other parts of the country”. “Jammu has always been discriminated against. There have been one hundred issues where the Valley has been favoured over Jammu. The present issue concerns our aastha (faith) and is thus non-negotiable,” he said.

<b>“Kashmir is the gateway of terrorism to India. If you want to save the country, you have to strengthen Jammu. We appeal to the people of India to stand behind the people of Jammu,” he added. Lambasting the Union Government for “turning a deaf ear to Jammu for the last 50 days”, Sharma said that “it has now become the entire country’s agitation”.</b>

The BJP that wants to take the Amarnath issue to every nook and corner of the country may call for a bandh on August 21 in support of the Amarnath demands. “The modalities are being worked out, and we welcome support from all quarters,” said an SASS functionary.

The five-member SASS team’s day-long-engagement in Delhi gave a peek into their future course of action. <b>With logistical help coming from local BJP functionaries — with some of them intimately connected with the Jammu and Kashmir affairs — Sharma and his aides first met Swami Ramdev at a gurdwara in Greater Kailash after arriving in the Capital early in the morning. “The meeting was held at the initiative of Swami Ramdev,”</b> claimed an SASS functionary.

“The yoga exponent was huddled with leaders of the Bhagirathi-Ganga Bachao Abhiyan meeting, and they all promised to take the agitation to various parts of the country,” claimed the SASS leader. An association of environmental activists and Hindu gurus opposed to the construction work on the Ganga in Uttrakhand, the Bhagirathi-Ganga Bachao Abhiyan enjoys the patronage of the RSS.

Sharma also met Vijay Kaushal Maharaj, a Ram Katha exponent, at a function organised by the Delhi BJP before leaving for Jammu late in the evening. “Vijay Kaushalji blessed our movement,” said an aide to Sharma. Sharma was also in touch with leaders of the BJP/RSS although he claimed he met no BJP leader.
SASS also talked of organising a march to Baltal apart from phased-out bandhs “to keep the movement alive” as well as opening of offices in other parts of the country.

<span style='color:red'>“There will be no let-up in the agitation in Jammu,” asserted Sharma, adding that “at least one lakh people will court arrest in Jammu on Monday”. “You call me a hardliner and then compare me with Syed Ali Shah Geelani. The difference however is that Geelani burns the Tricolour but we get record turnout in Jammu to unfurl the Tricolour,” said Sharma </span><span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>when told that his militant posture was helping Pakistan achieve its objective in the Valley. </span> {So sick is the secular media mindset}

Asked if he agreed with the SASS taking the agitation to the rest of the country, with the BJP directly benefiting as a result, <b>former state additional advocate general and Congress leader, and also a key member of the SASS, B S Salathia, told The Indian Express: “The divide in the state is now between the anti-national, secessionist elements of the Valley, and the nationalist, secular people of Jammu. What’s the harm then if we take the support of the rest of the country?”

In Jammu, SASS rejected an invitation by Governor N N Vohra for talks. Samiti leader Brig (retd) Suchet Singh said they had already made it clear that they would not talk unless the Government came up with a concrete proposal. “Let them come up with what they want to talk about.</b> Besides, now the issue has become a national issue and talking here at this level seems a futile exercise,” he added.

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