10,000 forest trees are chopped down to build the Mughal road in Kashmir. No one makes a noise. Acres of land in the Kashmir valley are given to install mobile phone towers. No one screams.
Acres and acres of land in the Kashmir valley are allotted to lay sewage and drinking water pipes. No one objects.
But when 40 hectares of uninhabitable land is handed over to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board to provide better facilities to the Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, all hell breaks loose.
Why? Because the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board caters to Hindu pilgrims who want to visit the Amarnath shrine in the valley of Kashmir. It is as simple as that.
Politically correct politicians, policy-makers and administrators might try to tell you that it is not about religion, but the fact of the matter is that it is all about religion. It is a design by communal forces within the valley to completely Islamicise the valley by removing every symbol of Hinduism and other faiths from the valley.
Today, these communal forces are preventing the setting up of facilities for the yatra, tomorrow they will even go to the extent of banning the yatra altogether.
The land transfer fiasco has already consumed the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led Congress government and is on its way to now adversely damage the state's economy. The fear psychosis has already resulted in a sharp decline of tourists to the valley. Counter-strikes and bandhs announced by the pro-land-transfer parties within the Jammu province have
RE:Appeasement of Minority is bad
by Avi Priten on Aug 10, 2008 12:15 PM Permalink
Let us take a hard look at the arguments presented by the locals who opposed the transfer of land:
1. The allotment would have adversely affected the environment around the area. One wonders where these tree-hugging environmentalists were when the same government allowed the felling of 10,000 forest trees to build the 89 km-long Mughal road.
40 hectares of land that was going to be used to provide temporary shelters and night-time facilities to pilgrims was in fact going to help in proper maintenance of the current day waste that actually pollutes the environment. But who can argue with senseless politicians who instigate people to come out on the streets?
2. The allotment is the government's ploy to settle Hindus from outside the state to change the demographics of the valley. Look, who is talking! One has to only go back 18 years in the history and check who changed the demographics of the valley.
Islamic terrorists changed the demographics of the valley by ethnically cleansing Kashmiri Hindus from the valley. I wonder where these we-do-not-want-to-change-demographics-folks were when Kashmiri Hindus were slaughtered and the valley's demographics were altered.
One would like to ask a few questions: a. Is 40 hectares of land enough to settle so many Hindus that it would change the demographics of the valley?
b. By putting this argument of demographic change, are the valley's Muslims implying that Hindus are not welcome in the valley anymore? And I do not mea
RE:RE:Appeasement of Minority is bad
by Avi Priten on Aug 10, 2008 12:16 PM Permalink
Having touched upon the outlandish arguments of those who oppose the allotment of land, let us look at some facts and the real story:
It was during the first three years of the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-Ghulam Nabi Azad coalition government that the original proposal of land transfer was initiated and cleared. It was under Mufti Sayeed's leadership that his forest minister Qazi Mohammad Afzal and law minister Muzzafar Hussain Baig originally cleared the proposal. It just so happened that due to red tape, the proposal was finally approved by the cabinet when Azad had taken over as chief minister during the second three-year part of the six-year term.
The same PDP led by Mufti Sayeed was originally okay with this proposal. But as soon as the PDP smelt that terrorist outfits like the Hizbul Mujahideen were not in favour of the allotment of land and realised that it could become a polarising issue to whip up sentiments to garner votes in the upcoming assembly election, it backtracked.
Since it is an election year, the National Conference and other smaller political parties would not let the PDP cash in on this opportunity alone. They jumped into the fray and whipped up sentiments by fooling the local Kashmiri Muslims. And that leaves the Congress. How could the Congress not try to cash in on this polarising issue in an election year?
Azad did not waste any time and revoked his cabinet's decision to appease the Kashmiri Muslim vote bank. He did not just stop there. In add
RE:Appeasement of Minority is bad
by Raghuvendra Kumar on Aug 10, 2008 10:47 PM Permalink
It is suicidal f0r the Indian secular dem0cracy t0 c0ntinue with the p0licy 0f appeasement f0r Min0rity even after 61 years 0f Independence. The Preamble 0f the C0nstituti0n guarantees Equality in all respects. Article 370 is against the very bas5c precepts 0f the C0nstituti0n- In the interest 0f the Nati0n just scrap it - the wh0le Pr0blem will be s0lved....! 0therwise th0usands 0f paid ISI agents like 0MAR ABDULLAH will be b0rn in India...!
RE:Appeasement of Minority is bad
by Albert Pintoo on Aug 14, 2008 10:59 AM Permalink
The reality is... after the state govt. took over the board, the tried to streamline the yatra... That affected many unorganized business around the yatra... mostly run by muslims. For years they were making money out of the plight of the pligrims. And... they got support from the terrorists and PDP...
Re: Appeasement of Minority is bad
by nadeem bashir on Aug 29, 2008 12:46 PM Permalink
The cutting of trees and installation of towers adds to development work there in kashmir, Now u said over the creation of facilities for Yatries, which are wellcomed every where in kashmir. I don't understand what is need for it as such facilities are always and already provided to Yatries from last one and a half centuary and no one then proposes for land. The land transfer for providing facilities to Yatries on Papers is just the cause for gaining vote bank and nothing else. If you have gone to Shri Amarnath Yatra some time you must have realized the facilities provided by people living there and Government and if not then you should inquire with the persons who had pursued Yatra.... Also no one speeks when there occurs a lanslide and snowstorm in that area..It was only the kashmiri people who rescued the Yatries and provide them food , shelter, Blankets and not the Government and those people who claim for a piece of land now.....I think it is sufficient to make some one understand and washoff doubts in there minds ...
