Curfew in Poonch, Samiti hints willingness for talks

Zeenews Bureau Jammu, Aug 08:

Curfew was imposed and Army staged a flag march in the border town of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday as a precautionary measure following incidents of violence and tension over the Amarnath land transfer issue. "Curfew has been imposed in Poonch town following some incidents of violence and stone pelting there yesterday. It is a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward incident," said an official spokesperson. He said that the Army also conducted flag march in certain areas of the town. Meanwhile, in softening of stand, Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti that is spearheading the agitation in Jammu against the revocation of forest land allotment has hinted that it is willing to talk with the four member delegation appointed by the Governor to break the deadlock. The Governor has also constituted a panel of three advisors to assist the four-member panel. All three — HH Tyabji, SS Billoria and C Puhunsog — are former chief secretaries of the state. The timing of their importance gains importance as an all-party delegation, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, is scheduled to visit Jammu on Saturday to find ways to resolve the dispute. The suggestion for sending an all-party delegation was made at a meeting of leaders of over 35 political parties convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Thursday to hammer out a solution to the vexed issue. The Bharatiya Janata Party on the other hand has decided to go ahead decision to observe three day three-day nationwide agitation, starting on Monday, over the Amarnath land transfer issue. The SASS is demanding revocation of the decision stalling the transfer of nearly 100 acres of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. Shutdown in Kashmir, separatist leaders under house arrest Senior separatist leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Shabir Ahmad Shah were put under house arrest by the authorities to prevent their proposed march to the headquarters of the United Nations Military Observers Group (UNMOG) in this summer Capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The separatist leaders had announced their march to the headquarters of UNMOG to present a memorandum against the alleged economic blockade of the Kashmir valley and the harassment of the minority Muslim community in the Jammu region. Another senior separatist leader and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation front (JKLF) Muhammad Yasin Malik is in the intensive care unit of Soura Medical Institute here after his condition deteriorated Thursday morning. Doctors attending on him said his condition was now stable. All markets, educational institutions, banks and public transport remained closed here Friday. Attendance in government offices was thin because of the non-availability of public transport in the city. The supply of mutton and poultry was also hit as the valley depends entirely on Rajasthan and Delhi for its mutton supply. The local production of sheep is too low to meet the requirement. According to reports, life was totally thrown out of gear in the south Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam because of the shutdown. But there was no report of any untoward incident till noon. Markets also remained closed in north Kashmir districts of Baramulla, Bandipora, Kupwara and Ganderbal. The shutdown which entered its fourth day Friday began following the death of a protesting youth in the Maisuma locality of the city Tuesday. It's question of modalities for providing facilities for pilgrims: PM Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to told have the all-party meeting called by him on Wednesday that it was now a question of "modalities" over providing facilites to Amarnath pilgrims, a point interpreted by BJP as compulsion on the part of the government to address the Jammu agitators on Amarnath land transfer issue. The Prime Minister ended his speech in the all-party meeting with the words 'facilities have to be provided, only the modalities have to be worked out', BJP sources said. This shows that even the government understands that the current situation in Jammu demands bowing to some of the demands of the agitators, said a senior MP who attended the meeting. The meeting, though held in a cordial atmosphere, witnessed the cornering of BJP which has been accused of inflaming the sentiments of the people of Jammu. Political parties from the troubled state put across their points of view. NC leader Farooq Abdullah said that with the situation worsening, soon he would need a visa to go to Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said BJP's Arun Jaitley rebuffed him saying the issue had been clinched by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee when he successfully agitated for it decades ago.


I do not think anyone in his or her normal senses would object to better facilities being provided to pilgrims anywhere. Why then has there been such an outcry against allotting 100 acres of land to Amarnath shrine for providing improved facilities to the pilgrims? Is this land otherwise being used for anything else? How can the staying of pilgrims for a few days in a year at a facility be the cause of any demographic change in Kashmir?

In truth what has happened is that the separatists are aspiring for total control of Kashmir and therefore the idea of a Hindu shrine having control of even 100 acres of land for the pious activity of worshipping for just a month of two in a year is an intolerable idea for the separatists. The Amarnath issue is not directly a Hindu-Muslim issue (though all the separatists are Muslims and their separatism is in the name of Islam). It is a separatist-Nationalist issue. All India must rise as one to crush the power of the separatists in Kashmir. As there is no threat whatsoever to Islam arising from granting of land to Amarnath, all Muslims must join hands with Hindus on this issue. Let all Indians resolve to get rid of separatists and terrorists with the blessings of Shri Amarnathji.