[Reader-list] The Land Deal in Kashmir

[Wali Arifi]

  9TH September 2008



PRESS STATEMENT

The Land Deal in Kashmir:

A Dangerous Surrender to the Jammu Agitators



            We the undersigned academics, and others express grave concern
at how the dispute over grant of land to the Amarnath Board in Kashmir is
being handled by our political authorities. Over four weeks the agitators in
Jammu were allowed by the administration to impose a blockade of Kashmir,
which, despite official denials practically continued till the end of
August. Those whom Mr LK Advani and others call "nationalists", committed
crime, arson and mayhem in Jammu, while waving the national flag. They have
themselves proved to the most effective separatists since they entirely
separated Kashmir from the rest of the country, and tried to starve out the
people of the very area they are never tired of pronouncing an integral part
of India. By allowing them to do so and by making concession after
concession to them  the Government of India cannot escape the stigma of
colluding with them. When on the other hand, driven to desperation, the
people of Kashmir valley protested against the blockade, as many as forty
persons were shot dead by the military, para-military and police forces. In
the talks with the Jammu agitators through an all-party delegation headed by
the Home Minister, the agitators secured the exclusion of the
representatives of the Kashmir parties (PDP and NC) despite an invitation
issued to them. No compensation for those killed and injured by army and
police firings in the Kashmir valley has been so far announced, in contrast
to what was done swiftly in Jammu. And now the final act of collusion with
the Jammu agitators has taken place, by the revocation of the Governor's own
order of 29 June and the re-allotment of the 800 kanals of land
"exclusively" to the Amarnath Shrine Board. The agreement was announced at a
"joint" press conference of the Governor's representative and the Jammu
agitators on 31 August. The deal's details made it clear that limitation to
"the duration of yatra" is a mere formality, since no power is given to the
Government of Jammu and Kashmir over how the Shrine Board deals with the
land "from time to time". It is also clear that the special concessions,
under paras 9 and 10 of the agreement, about withdrawal of cases and
compensation to agitators are confined to Jammu and not made applicable to
the Kashmir Division.

No persons sincerely interested in opposing the movement for Kashmir's
secession can support this deal, which is naturally seen in Kashmir as an
unjust and provocative act. If we wish to retain Kashmir as part of our
country we should stop treating the Kashmiri people as aliens and let them
decide what to do with their land. We therefore call upon all
fellow-citizens to join us in demanding a revocation of the deal and the
establishment of a proper rule of law in the whole State of Jammu and
Kashmir.

Professor R.S. Sharma (Patna)

Professor Suvira Jaiswal (Hyderabad)

Professor Keshavan Veluthat (Mangalore)

Professor R.L. Shukla (Delhi)

Professor Irfan Habib (Aligarh)

Professor H.C. Satyarthi (Muzaffarpur)

Professor Shireen Moo svi (Aligarh)

Professor D.N. Jha (Delhi)

Professor Pradeep Saxena (Aligarh)

Professor Iqtidar Alam Khan (Aligarh)

Dr Ramesh Rawat (Aligarh)

Professor Sayera I. Habib (Aligarh)

Dr Prabhat Shukla (New Delhi)

Dr S. Ali Nadeem Rezavi (Aligarh)

Professor Rajan Gurukkal (Mangalore)

Dr Shamim Akhtar (Aligarh)



Released by



IRFAN HABIB

Professor Emeritus, AMU