Jammu bounces back to normalcy after Amarnath agreement

02/09/2008 10:05:06 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Jammu_bounces_back_to_normalcy/articleshow/3431165.cms
JAMMU: People thronged barbers' shops, children rushed to school and heavy traffic clogged the roads here Monday as the Jammu region bounced back to normalcy after a two-month-long spell of curfews and shutdowns over the Amarnath land row.
The longest queues were outside beauty saloons or the roadside barbers, where people waited for their turn to get a haircut. "I have been waiting for two months to get a haircut," said Rohit Raina, a private sector employee.
Rohit stood in line for over 90 minutes as his barber in Gole Market area of Gandhi Nagar struggled to handle the surge of customers. "I opened my shop at 6 am. There is an unusual rush," said barber Lakshmi Das.
Children could be seen rushing to school, excited at the prospect of meeting their friends after a long break. "We had almost forgotten about school," said Neha Gupta, a Class 6 student at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Gandhi Nagar.
People on the roads greeted each other with slogans of "Bamb Bamb Bhole", hailing Hindu god Shiva. "Bamb Bamb Bhole" had been chanted by members of the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti (SASS), which spearheaded the protests against the cancellation of land allotment to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
The state government had May 26 transferred a 40-hectare plot of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board but withdrew this following protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley. The revocation July 1 ignited an agitation in the Hindu majority Jammu region that lasted 61 days.
The land was restored to the shrine board Sunday morning by the government for use "exclusively" during the pilgrimage period. Residents of the walled city here continued to congratulate each other Monday for what they believed was a "victory of the people of Jammu over the forces of injustice".

K.Venugopal 03/09/2008 01:01:43
Amarnath agitation a grand success.Dear Mr. Menon, The agitation started because the 100 acres land that was given to the Amarnath Shrine Board to use for the benefit of the pilgrim was taken back. The agitation is a success because the government has been forced to give back to the Shrine Board the 100 acres land for use of the pilgrims. With the words 'exclusive usage' in the agreement and the fact that the government is unlikely to give any other party permission to use the land, it is as good as the Shrine Board has got the 100 acres all for itself for the period of the pilgrimage - however long it extends. Nowhere in the agreement is it said that the period is only 3 months, as reported in the media. If the Board wants to extend the pilgrimage over a longer period, then the exclusive use for that period is automatically granted. Can you please spell out why you think it is a compromise?
menon 02/09/2008 14:35:56
Is this a victory?This pure compromise....not a victory... If BJP or VHP calling this as victory..it's a shame...

A perfect ending to a historic struggle

02/09/2008 10:01:48 Courtesy: AADI
If you believe in yourself dreams do come true. One can't think of any other expression that can aptly sum up the mood of the people in the Jammu region today. Their demand has finally been met. The Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) will be allotted land for raising temporary facilities for the duration of the annual pilgrimage in the south of the Kashmir region. It has taken the people more than two months of constant protests and 40 days of bandh to make them heard in the corridors of power.
Indeed, their movement has been historic. Never before has such solidarity been seen on this side of the Pir Panjal. Tens of thousands of people have staged demonstrations in every nook and corner. What is equally significant is that they have been tireless in their pursuit. Every day they have been on the streets regardless of whether or not there is curfew. They have walked long distances. Women have played an important part. So have children. They have faced the rough end of the police stick. They have been made to stand face to face with the Army, of all forces, and encounter its bullets. It is not easy for the people to survive when they shut down all their activities in quest of a single goal. Every person actually tends to suffer. There is no milk, no bread, no salt and no sugar for days together. Travel to and from hospitals and the city's main railway station is adversely hit. Ceremonies in connection with marriages and deaths are deprived of their usual adjuncts.
This province has seen all this and even more. Yet, nobody has made an exhibition of his or her distress. They have not rushed to television channels to shed tears. Instead, they have taken their pain in stride. Not only that. Ten of them have sacrificed their lives for a cause. Of them two have taken their own lives bewitched by a common ambition. Although their acts have been of exceptional courage the suicides in any form should not take place in any age. Still these instances have occurred. How does one explain them? On the whole it is remarkable that the people have shown tremendous patience. They have been made to live with several innuendos like "vandals", "criminals", "communal" and "partisan". To their credit they have ignored them. They have known all along that they are on the right course and have been vindicated in the end.
Why has Jammu erupted like it has done never before? There is only one logical explanation. Instead of getting a sympathetic hearing it had salt rubbed into its wounds by "political leaders" including those who ought to have taken a state-wide perspective. Tragically even New Delhi initially showed an extremely poor understanding of the ground reality. The poser was simple. Why could the people of one part of the State not have amenities to exercise their right to worship in the other part under a dispensation devised by the legislature? The separatists replied by saying that the pilgrimage had been going on for decades and the local Muslims had been facilitators. This was beating about the bush because that was not something in dispute.
The stupendous success of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) has changed the entire perception about how to manage shrines in the State. The number of pilgrims has skyrocketed. Why should they have to wait for hours together in long queues in their cars especially on the Baltal side? Why could not they have a place to relax for some time? Why should not their offerings be utilised for their welfare and for serving humanity as a whole? There was no answer to these questions. Instead, a controversy was raised even though there was no scope for it with the State Legislature and the High Court having already settled the matter. It is being trumpeted up that a record number of devotees have turned up this year. What is being ignored is that an overwhelming number of them had paid obeisance at the cave shrine before the eruption of the secessionist violence in the Valley. Amazingly it was suggested by a section that the task should be left to the State Government. Why could the job not be executed by the SASB headed by no less a person than the Governor?
The grim truth is that separatists whipped up misplaced notions of a "Hindu invasion" of a "Muslim" region and articulated it in terms of the emergence of "Israeli-type settlements." They gained strength because the People's Democratic Party (PDP) exposed itself to the charge of behaving like an accomplice and the National Conference caved in momentarily. The activities across the Pir Panjal fuelled Jammu's apprehensions that that it was being denied its due once again. As a consequence this province's deep wounds of discrimination against it by the Kashmir-based leaders who claimed themselves to the "State" leaders were reopened. It was further infuriated by open display of the Pakistani flags and chanting of pro-Pakistan slogans. The reaction to this was that everyone in this region took national tricolour in his hands and waved it with pride. The actions and utterances of "Kashmiri" leaders are on record. The response to them is now part of the moving local folklore.
The result is that the issues that the Jammu agitation has brought before the nation are clear. What should be the future of Jammu and Kashmir with the "State" leaders refusing to look beyond their narrow constituencies? How long can New Delhi be soft towards the anti-national elements? Why should the minorities in the country's only Muslim-majority State be asked to play a second fiddle even in a matter like worship in a country that has chosen secularism as its creed? Why should there be blatant regional discrimination in the State just because a section threatens secession? Why should the separatists and their patrons not be treated in the fashion the United States had done centuries ago during its evolution as a democracy and as Pakistan, ironically though, is doing presently in its tribal areas? The success of the Jammu agitation is that it has brought these queries to the fore.
The Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (SAYSS) has done a commendable job. It has carried great credibility among the masses because its leaders have been sincere and have resisted attempts to toe the ideology of one party or the other. That it has stuck to its one-point plank is praiseworthy. If the other issues have surfaced one has to thank those in the Valley who preached "freedom for Islam" equating it with "freedom for Pakistan." Looking ahead we can only hope that the turmoil on either side of the Jawahar Tunnel throws up a leader who is truly secular and believes in the State as one entity integrated with the rest of the country.

Puducode 03/09/2008 13:37:54
Secular politics of vote buyingNEW DELHI: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday criticised the UPA government, saying the Centre lacks commitment to tackle terrorism in the country. Modi said he was waiting for Centre's approval for the anti-terror law for his state. "The Centre is not giving any reason for not approving it which is very surprising," he said. "Vote bank politics is protecting terrorists in the country. But in Gujarat there we will be zero tolerance against terrorism," Modi added. Advani who was also present in press conference was of the strong opinion that to curb activities of terror outfits, POTA-like laws should be reintroduced. "The laws to tackle organised crime in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are yet to get the President's assent when a similar legislation is in place in Maharashtra, he said and described it as "totally unjustified". On the delay in carrying out the execution of Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru, he said, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given "no explanation" for it. The senior leader said the previous NDA government also had to face the challenge of terrorism. "But it was majorly cross-border terrorism," he added. Advani said the scrapping of POTA was "votebank politics and nothing else". He also said the recent violent incidents in Orissa was wrong. "I am happy that the Orissa government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incidents," he added.
SeaLion 03/09/2008 03:56:26
Congratulations to SAYSSMy heartiest congratulations to SAYSS for the historic victory. NOW it is time to repeat the feat on National level to frontally take on and defeat the Barbaric, evil and Vile Christian and Commie-Pseudo secular Talibaan animals in the form of Congress-Media trying to break India, EVEN IF ARMED RESISTANCE IS REQUIRED. SPECIALLY HINDUS OF KERALA SHOULD FRONTALLY TAKE ON COMMIE GOONS ON STREETS, THEIR 1,00,000 CADRES WONT BE ABLE TO STAND 20 MILLION HINDUS EVEN FOR A DAY
K.Venugopal 03/09/2008 01:30:02
Hail the Hindus of JammuAny amount of praise for the Hindus of Jammu would not be enough. They have carried forward the agitation taking all communities with them. Theirs was not merely arm-chair philosophizing. They took to the streets, shut down their day-to-day livelihood for 61 days and sacrificed - all for the honour of Hindus the world over. The secular press is forced to see the victory but they are not highlighting it as a victory of the Hindus. It is this very shyness in giving the Hindus its due that has led to the growth of anti-national forces and their political patrons. The anti-national forces must be crushed and they are not only in Kashmir. Only the power of Hindus arisen and united can do this. Thank you, Hindu brothers of Jammu, for showing the rest of Hindus the way.