[Reader-list] Hindu Communalists ! and Jammu keeps Burning

[Shivam Vij शिवम् विज्]

The Economic and Political Weekly
July 26, 2008

STATE CULTIVATION OF THE AMARNATH YATRA

by Gautam Navlakha

The origins of the conflagration in June in
Kashmir on forest  land allocation for
construction of facilities for the Amarnath yatra
lie in open state promotion of the pilgrimage.
The yatra has caused considerable damage to the
economy and ecology of the area.  The high-handed
actions of the  Shri Amarnath Shrine Board only
aggravated the situation.

The Amarnath pilgrimage erupted into a major
controversy last month entirely on account of the
actions of the state. The Act setting up the
Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) was passed by
the National Conference government in 2001. On
January 1, 2008, the SASB informed the
legislature of Jammu and Kashmir, through a
letter to the deputy chief minister, that "(t)he
Governor is  sovereign ex-officio holder of the
power...  who acts on his own personal
satisfaction and not on the aid and advice of the
council of ministers...the member (of the
legislative council) may be explained that he
does not enjoy the powers to question the
decisions of the body" (Greater Kashmir, June 12,
2008).

Disconcertingly, the SASB, when presided over by
S K Sinha when he was governor, has been engaged
in some controversial transactions. The chief
executive officer (CEO) of the SASB is the
principal secretary to the governor. The CEO's
wife, in her capacity as principal secretary of
the forest department, granted permission to the
SASB on May 29, 2005 to use forest land for the
pilgrimage. Because this action was not in
accordance with the provision of the J&K Forest
Conservation Act of 1997, the state government
withdrew the order.  However, a division bench of
the J&K High Court stayed the withdrawal of
permission to occupy forest land. But when in
mid-2008, the state cabinet gave its approval to
"divert" 40 ha of forest land for the yatra the
issue erupted into widescale public protests. The
deputy chief minister, belonging to the
Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) went so far as
to claim that Congress ministers "black- mailed"
them into giving this approval (Indian Express,
June 16, 2008).  The Indian state has often used
the yatra to promote a certain kind of
nationalism.  During the Kargil war, in 1999, the
Press Information Bureau put out a press re-
lease stating: "(the) yearning for moksha
(salvation) can move the devotees to the
challenging heights of Kashmir and will be a
fitting gesture of solidarity with our valiant
soldiers who have been fighting the enemy to
defend our borders" (pib.nic.in/
feature/feo799/f1507992 html).

A Little Known Shrine

Thus, what is otherwise a religious pilgrimage of
the shaivite Hindus has been elevated to
represent a patriotic enterprise. What is
interesting is that the translator of
Rajtarangini, Aurel Stein, found no  reference in
1888 in either the Rajtarangini or the Nilmata
Purana to the Amarnath cave. For Kashmiri Hindus
the holiest site was the Haramukuta (Shiva's
Diadem) and Haramukh-Gangabal pilgrimage (see M
Ashraf, 'Aggression At Its Worst', Greater
Kashmir, June 20, 2008). The cave was in fact
discovered in the 18th century and a Gujjar
family and its descendants who found it were
given the right to a share of the offering as a
consequence. Even until the 1980s, this
pilgrimage was not well known and in 1989, only
12,000  pilgrims visited the cave in a fortnight
of pilgrimage. It is only after 1996 that the
Amarnath cave acquired its prominence when
militancy in Kashmir was at its peak.  The SASB
is headed by the governor (until recently S K
Sinha, a former lt general in the army) and his
principal secretary, from the Indian
Administrative Service, is the CEO of the SASB.
Thus when the SASB pushes for movement of a
larger and larger number of pilgrims and rejects
the right of the legislators to even raise a
question regarding the functioning of the   SASB,
the Indian state is sending a simple message.

Imagine if a Muslim governor of  Rajasthan were
to ask to set up an independent Ajmer Sharief
Dargah development authority, with say, control
over  a large part of Ajmer city. What would  be
the response of Rajasthan's BJP  government or
the right wing Hindutva rabble-rousers?

Ironically, it is the deposed custodian of the
shrine Deependra Giri who has been crying hoarse
over SASB's promotion of pilgrimage as tourism,
flouting the principle of penance inherent in
such pilgrim ages as laid down in the Hindu
scriptures! The point is this promotion

of Amarnath can be faulted on temporal, religious
and secular grounds. In other words it is
downright duplicitous when the Indian state
promotes religious tourism (tourism in any event)
in the guise of the welfare of Hindu pilgrims.
This is an extension and/or part of the process
of  acquisition of a huge mass of land (orchard
and cultivable fields, including the precious
saffron fields of Pampore) by  Indian security
forces and water management and control through
the National Hydro Power Corporation.

Implications

The implications are far-reaching. The SASB runs
a virtually parallel admini- stration and acts as
a "sovereign body" promoting Hindu interests,
increasing the number of pilgrims from 12,000 in
1989 to over 4,00,000 in 2007 and ex- tending the
period of the pilgrimage from 15 days to two and
half months (the first fortnight is meant for
families of service personnel). The SASB has
virtually taken over the functioning of the
Pahalgam De- velopment Authority, laying claims
to forest lands and constructing shelters and
structures even on the Pahalgam Golf Course!

As part of the latest instances of land grab the
SASB received the approval of the state
government on June 3, 2008 to transfer 800 kanals
of forest land. And  it wanted another 3,200
kanals. The  SASB has also staked claims to set
up an "independent" Amarnath Development
Authority between Nunwan, Pahalgam, and Baltal
(ahead of Sonmarg). It is true that the state
government shot down this  proposal and has
publicly claimed that only temporary structures
can be set up in the 800 kanals, but two things
should be kept in mind. Firstly, the brazen
manner in which the SASB has gone about staking
its claims. Secondly, but for public anger it is
doubtful if the state government would have found
the courage to oppose the demands of the SASB. It
has not done anything to prevent or rollback the
annexation of parts of Pahalgam Golf Course in
order to provide security for  pilgrims. If it
were not for the widespread protests in Kashmir
and the PDP's withdrawal from the government, the
new governor of Jammu and Kashmir would not have
been compelled to revoke his predecessor's order.

Environmental Damage

Be that as it may, probably the most damning
evidence against the SASB and its  dangerous
exclusivist policy is the dam- age being caused
to the environment in and around Pahalgam. A
noted environmentalist told Greater Kashmir (June
10, 2008) that "The yatris during their Amarnath
yatra do not only defecate on the banks of the
Lidder river but throw tonnes of non-degradable
items like polythene, plastic items directly into
the river. This has resulted in the deterioration
of its water quality." One expert, M R D
Kundangar, told Greater Kashmir that "(t)he
chemical oxygen demand of the Lidder has been
recorded between 17 and 92 mg/l which is beyond
the permissible level. Such enriched waters with
hazardous chemicals ranges can no way be
recommended for potable purposes.  It has crossed
all permissible limits due to flow of sewage and
open defecation. Lidder has been turned into a
cesspool." It has been estimated that every day
during the pilgrimage 55,000 kg of waste is
generated. Apart from this waste, the degradation
caused by buses and vehicles carrying pilgrims,
trucks carrying provisions and massive deployment
of security forces contributes further to air
pollution.  Another fallout is the threat posed
to local inhabitants from crowding of the
ecologically fragile area where they have to
compete to retain their access and rights to re-
sources, both water and land.  Indeed such was
the arrogance and clout of the previous governor
that he sent an  ordinance to the state
government to establish Shardapeeth University in
Baghat Kanipora in Srinagar. Prominent jurist  A
G Noorani was constrained to point out to Greater
Kashmir (June 9, 2008) that this move of the
governor was "unheard of in parliamentary
democracy". General Sinha would have gotten away
with this had it not been for the fact that state
coalition government did not have enough time to
promulgate this while he was still the governor.
The same governor, who also headed the Shri
Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, had also created a
special facility for rich Hindu pilgrims visiting
Vaishno Devi by paying an additional Rs 200-500.
Had it not been for the strike by residents and
ordinary pilgrims in Katra this decision would
not have been withdrawn.

The special time allocated for the pilgrimage to
the armed forces personnel, the acquisition of
land, introduction of helicopter services (which
causes its own attendant problems), crowding of
the area and slowly pushing out local people from
these locations because of the environmental
degradation or because their livelihood is
adversely affected (for example consider the
protests by the Pahalgam- based tourism industry
for squeezing them out), all pose a huge
challenge.

Limits in Gangotri

Significantly, even the Bharatiya Janata Party in
Uttarakhand on May 1, 2008 limited the number of
pilgrims visiting Gangotri and Goumukh to 150
persons per day so as to protect the fragile
ecology of the area. Yet, in the case of
Amarnath, and despite overwhelming evidence of
environmental degradation posed by the huge
increase in the number of pilgrims and large
number of security forces  deployed for
protection of such pilgrims, there is no one who
dares challenge the SASB's stubborn extension of
the yatra.  Indeed if the CEO of SASB is to be
believed since "the population of India will
increase we will have to consider further
extension of the yatra period".

Arguably, when the yatra was halted between 1991
and 1996 due to the threat by a section of the
militants it played into the hands of the extreme
right wing elements in Indian society who have
since then played an integral role in mobilising
large numbers of pilgrims.

However, it is equally important to note that
earlier, school- children and college youth used
to act as volunteers and provide assistance to
the yatris. Even when this was discontinued after
1996, the main indigenous militant organisation
the Hizbul Mujahideen and Muslim Janbaz Force
always supported the yatra and consistently
demonstrated its opposition towards those who
tried to dis- rupt it. And even today there is no
section of people who opposes the yatra. What
they resent is the horrendously jingoistic turn
that it has taken under the SASB.  Verily the
more things change more they remain the same.

On Sat, Aug 2, 2008 at 5:59 PM, Pawan Durani <pawan.durani at gmail.com> wrote:
> *KASHMIR IMAGES, August 2, 2009*
>
> *Good you talked about Hindu communalists of India, why not about Muslim
> fundamentalists of Kashmir?*
>
> *By Vimal Sumbly*
>
> Dear Omar,
>
> please accept my heartiest congratulations for an impassionate speech you
> delivered in the parliament on July 22.
> It would be remembered as one of the best speeches ever delivered in the
> parliament. I have always felt proud about your secular and nationalistic
> credentials. Unlike most other politicians in Kashmir, you and your
> illustrious father Dr Farooq Abdullah have the distinction of never playing
> with the secessionist sentiments of people in Kashmir. As you began your
> speech in the parliament that you are a Muslim and you are an Indian and
> there was no difference between the two, you were speaking straight from
> your heart. In fact you never needed to say that, you have always proved it
> indeed.
> However I beg to differ with the widespread public opinion generated by your
> "extempore speech". For the speech was not at all addressed to the
> parliament, nor to the billion Indians who were watching you live on the
> television. It was aimed at the select "secular Muslims of Kashmir" whom you
> are going to ask for their vote very soon. I salute you for the courage to
> call a spade a spade. You rightly criticized the Bharitya Janata Party for
> its communal agenda. I believe your regret and apologies were obviously
> aimed at the Kashmiri Muslims. You rightly criticized the Communists for
> being self proclaimed guardians of the Indian secularism, while not minding
> to side with the "communal BJP" in toppling the government.
>
> Dear Omar, I know and you know that you paid a heavy price in 2002 assembly
> elections in Kashmir for not having resigned on the Gujarat riots. You and
> your party were defeated in the elections, mainly because you were blamed
> for sharing power with the "communal BJP" at the centre. That ghost might be
> still haunting you. But you showed enough moral courage to apologize to the
> Kashmiri Muslims. You berated the BJP to the maximum possible extent. That
> is for you and the BJP to decide. Your speech was rated among the best by
> various television channels. Taking it on the face value everybody would
> like it. Because, it was rhetoric at its best. Particularly when you had
> chosen the two best targets, the Communists and the BJP, who were obviously
> not liked by many across the country for their opportunistic "understanding"
> to topple the government for entirely different reasons.
>
> I wish you gathered the same moral courage, which you showed in the
> parliament to denounce the Hindu communalists, to condemn the Muslim
> communalists in Kashmir. I feel sorry the way you defended the anti Amarnath
> land transfer agitation in the parliament. And hats off to you that you
> presented it to be a "secular" agitation for the land. Let you tell me and
> the whole of nation who was going to take away the land from you. Had LK
> Advani been allotted the land to settle down his "communal brigade" there?
> It was just a temporary transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to
> facilitate the pilgrimage of lakhs of pilgrims coming from across the
> country. And is the Shrine Board an outside agency? Isn't it just a state
> agency controlled by the state government itself? The matter of the fact is
> that you joined the course of competitive communalism that was initiated by
> your rivals, the People's Democratic Party and hijacked by secessionists
> like Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani. And how brilliantly you presented it in
> "secular colours". What if the Hindus outside Kashmir rebel in the same way
> and seek vacation of Haj houses? That has never been done and it will never
> be done.
> Not everybody across the country knows that the grave of your grandfather,
> Sher-i-Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah still needs a heavy posse of cops
> and mostly drawn from central paramilitary forces to be defended against the
> same "secular" Muslims of Kashmir. And we all know Sheikh Sahib was a true
> secular leader who opted for secular India against an Islamic Pakistan. Had
> it not been for him, Kashmir would not have been with India. So, who is
> wrong your grandfather or the "secular" Kashmiri Muslims, whom you defended
> with such a strong conviction? Like you apologized to the Kashmiri Muslims
> for "sleeping with the communal BJP", you should also apologize to the
> people of Jammu whom you accused of being communal. This was too hurting.
> Let you not forget that you still feel safer in Jammu than in Kashmir and
> there has not been a selective communal killing in Jammu despite so much
> provocation in Kashmir valley. You certainly owe an apology to the people of
> Jammu also and the current phase of violence was provoked by "the best"
> speech you delivered in the parliament.
>
> And please don't mislead the county that no Amarnath pilgrim was ever
> attacked. There have been scores of attacks resulting in scores of deaths
> during the past two decades on the pilgrims. And also let the record be
> straightened that the Amarnath cave was not discovered by a Muslim about 150
> years ago. Its mention is in Neelamat Puran as well. Besides, when the
> Kashmiri Pandits were subjected to atrocities during the regime of
> Aurangzeb, they (the Kashmiri Pandits) had gone to Amaranth to seek divine
> intervention. It is here that they decided to approach Guru Tegh Bahadur in
> Anandpur Sahib and that is over 300 years ago.
>
> I am sure, you are an honest and a well meaning person. I not only see a
> bright future for Kashmir in you, but for the entire country. We need
> leaders like you, passionate, forthright, honest, brilliant and daring. To
> conclude I tell, rather I request you one small thing. This is too personal.
> That I am myself a Kashmiri like you. I am thorough Kashmiri in language, in
> culture, in life and in everything. I have been thrown out of my Kashmir 18
> years ago. Even remaining away, I have maintained my language, my culture
> and my lifestyle as a true Kashmir. You will say that, I was not thrown out
> as it was Jagmohan who prompted me to move out. Presuming that I went out at
> Jagmohan's behest, but can you help me now to return my piece of land, less
> than half an acre, no big deal. It has been occupied by one of my "secular
> Muslim" classmates with whom I used to go to school for twelve long years.
> He knows I cannot do anything. You said, you will fight for the rights of
> your land. Will you help me to return my land, like you pleaded the cause of
> other fellow Muslim Kashmiris. I am also your fellow Kashmiri who still
> cherishes the memories of his home. Don't disappoint me. Because I think you
> are not only brave but bold as well. Have courage to speak for me. Whether I
> get my land back or not, would not bother me, but I would feel consoled that
> a fellow Kashmiri stood for me, like he stood for other fellow Kashmiris.
> I understand that writing to you this way is enough to get me pronounced as
> communal and an activist of RSS and Shiv Sena. But let me put it on record
> that ours was among a few exceptional Pandit families that always voted for
> the National Conference and not the Congress. You can verify it from my same
> friend who has grabbed my land. We used to participate together in National
> Conference processions. And I still believe that the National Conference is
> the best bet for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly under the
> dynamic leadership of a young, brilliant, brave and daring leader like you.
>  My sincere apologies if I have been harsh to you, I never wanted to cloud
> the glory of your speech in parliament, I only wanted to set the record
> straight. Because truth must be told howsoever bitter it may be.
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