[Reader-list] No Jain temple burnt in Kashmir

[SJabbar]

Dear Rashneek,

Someone had posted news of a Jain temple being destroyed and someone had
clarified that it had not.  I merely posted the piece to set the record
straight.

Kashmir is such a contentious site that when someone claims something and
you contradict it with facts the person immediately shifts the goalposts! My
posting the piece on the Jain temple had nothing to do with denying the fact
that temples have been destroyed in Kashmir or that Pandit properties have
been the target of vandalism and worse.

I really do hope that you are able to rebuild your house in Kashmir and in
time, the small temple in your village.

Best wishes,
Sonia


On 30/08/10 8:28 AM, "rashneek kher" <rashneek at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Sonia,

Around May this year I was planning to rebuild my house in
> Kashmir.I was
bouyed by the fact that my father could do the ancient
> Harmukatganga
pilgrimmage.When I started enquiring about things around my
> house and asked
about the cremation ground my friend Yasin Dar told me there
> are hardly any
left in entire valley simply because people have bulit houses
> on them.
There was a very small temple in our villgae.There were no more than
> 15
Pandit families so it would suffice but now I hear that someone's
> house
stands where the temple was and the land is grabbed as well.
So while
> this Jain temple might not have been broken or destroyed what about
hundreds
> of such temples which are not very far from where our friend
Shujaat
> lives.
Tell him to look around and he will find the stamp of Butshikans
> everywhere.

Love

Rashneek

On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 7:47 PM, Aditya Raj Kaul
> <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>wrote:

> Don't trust The Times of India. Trust
> Shujaat Bukhari. Or else you will be
> treated as a communal. I guess his
> house was under raid during Amarnath
> agitation along with some PDP leaders.
> Police was searching for
> separatists.
>
>
> Well, No Jain Temple. Only 600
> Hindu Temples destroyed.
>
> Ah! Just 600. Forget it yaar. Why bother?
>
>
> Perhaps that is where stone-pelter mobs get their weapon. Destroy temple,>
> get stones. Transport them to main street corners. Simple!
>
> I heard 80 Shia
> familes have moved out of Kashmir in last two months.
> Sorry,
> I should
> already take it as my imagination. Sane voice has no place.
> Nothing
>
> doing!
>
> --
> Aditya Raj Kaul
>
> India Editor
> The Indian, Australia
>
>
> Web: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/
>
>  On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 7:22 PM,
> we wi <dhatr1i at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > from Ghori...Aurangazeb to now there is
> no change,ruining ruining ruining
> > whether it is religion, temple,scholary,
> place,asset or whatever.
> >
> > --- On Sat, 8/28/10, SJabbar
> <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > From: SJabbar
> <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
> > Subject: [Reader-list] No Jain temple burnt in
> Kashmir
> > To: "Sarai" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > Date: Saturday, August 28,
> 2010, 2:13 PM
> >
> > From The Hindu
> >
> >
> >
> > No Jain temple was burnt
> in Kashmir: officials
> >
> > Shujaat Bukhari
> > SRINAGAR: The temporary
> structure housing a Jain temple in a local hotel
> > was
> > not burnt by a
> mob but was dismantled as a local hotel's contract with a
> > Mumbai-based
> travel agency which built the structure on its premises has
> > not
> > been
> renewed.
> >
> > In the wake of reports in newspapers around India that the
> only Jain
> temple
> > in Kashmir had been burnt by mobs leading the ongoing
> protests in the
> > Valley, hotel and State officials told The Hindu that no
> such incident
> had
> > taken place.
> >
> > According to Ghulam Mohiuddin,
> manager of Silver Star Hotel in Lasjan on
> > the
> > outskirts of Srinagar,
> the temporary structure was built as per contract
> > with Gem Tours and
> Travels, a Mumbai-based travel agency, which wanted to
> > provide a place
> where Jain tourists from other parts of India could
> worship
> > while
> visiting Kashmir.
> >
> > ³But the three-year contract ended and was not
> extended, so the structure
> > was also dismantled,² he said. The temple was
> established to attract Jain
> > tourists. ³As the situation in the Valley
> worsened and the tourist inflow
> > declined, the contract was not renewed and
> we thought there is no need
> for
> > this,² he added. The 8x8 pre-fabricated
> structure was dismantled in the
> > presence of the priest, Hans Raj, on
> August 10.
> >
> > Mr. Mohiuddin categorically denied that the temple was
> burnt or destroyed
> > by
> > a mob. ³This is just not true. It is a fact that
> a large mob passed
> through
> > this area also but no one entered our
> premises so the question of
> touching
> > the temple does not arise,² he told
> The Hindu. Before the hotel
> management
> > decided to remove the structure,
> the owners of the travel agency were
> > contacted through the priest Hans
> Raj, who hails from Uttar Pradesh. ³The
> > idols were removed and properly
> handed over to them when they arrived in
> > Srinagar the next day,² he said,
> adding the rumours seemed to be a
> > conspiracy to spread hatred against
> Kashmiris.
> >
> > Deputy Commissioner (Srinagar) Meraj Kakroo also rubbished
> reports about
> > the
> > Jain temple being attacked. ³The report about the
> burning of the temple
> is
> > baseless and mischievous,² he said. He added
> that no proper temple
> existed
> > and ³as per our information, it was an
> internal arrangement made by the
> > hotel owners.²
> >
> > Members of the
> community said there is, in fact, no Jain temple in
> Kashmir.
> > While there
> were 40-odd Jain families living in the Valley prior to
> > militancy, only
> five have stayed back. ³There is no Jain temple here,
> > though
> > a family
> has set up one in their house,² Amit Jain, a businessman, said.
> >
> >
> Repeated attempts by this correspondent to get a response from Gem Tours
> >
> and
> > Travels drew a blank. However, a local news portal, Kashmir
> Dispatch,
> > reported that a team from the Doshi family, which built the
> temple, flew
> in
> > to Srinagar the day after it was dismantled. ³They
> packed the idols in
> > cardboard boxes and returned to Sabarmati,² it said.
> ³It was not burnt
> and
> > [the newspaper which said it was] will come out
> with a corrigendum,² the
> > portal quoted Jyotin Doshi, Chairman of Gem
> Tours, as saying. ³The
> > structure
> > was broken; we don't know by whom, we
> had a contract with the hotel for
> > five
> > years under which the temple
> was built on the hotel property,² he said.
> >
> > ³We don't want to create
> enmity and request everybody to stop thinking
> > about
> > the matter. We
> have now installed the idols in Ahmedabad and there is
> > nothing more I can
> say on this,² the portal quoted Mr. Doshi as saying.
> >
> >
> >
> _________________________________________
> > reader-list: an open discussion
> list on media and the city.
> > Critiques & Collaborations
> > To subscribe:
> send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> > subscribe in the
> subject header.
> > To unsubscribe:
> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> > List archive:
> <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> _________________________________________
> > reader-list: an open discussion
> list on media and the city.
> > Critiques & Collaborations
> > To subscribe:
> send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> > subscribe in the
> subject header.
> > To unsubscribe:
> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> > List archive:
> <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion
> list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send
> an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject
> header.
> To unsubscribe:
> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive:
> <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>




-- 
Rashneek
> Kher
http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
http://www.nietzschereborn.blo
> gspot.com
_________________________________________
reader-list: an open
> discussion list on media and the city.
Critiques & Collaborations
To
> subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in
> the subject header.
To unsubscribe:
> https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
List archive:
> <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>