Govt control on religious shrines must end: Geelani

Hardline separatists in Kashmir on Saturday warned the Jammu and Kashmir government of an organised struggle if it fails to disband Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and Muslim Wakf Board. 

They also demanded the control of Amarnath yatra and Muslim shrines handed over to the locals.

“If government control on affairs of Amarnath yatra and Muslim shrines isn’t ended soon, we will launch a massive struggle against it,” Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani told reporters at his uptown Hyderpora residence.

He claimed that they weren’t against Amarnath yatra “as it has been happening for the last 145 years.”

“But now, government of India and right-wing Hindu organisations are using the yatra as launch pad to instigate communal disharmony,” Geelani claimed.

Quoting a news report of a leading national magazine, he said the religious sanctity of the Amarnath yatra “has been eroded and now it has become a tool of communal aggression.”

Upping the ante for environmental protection, the octogenarian Hurriyat leader said that if the Jammu and Kashmir government undertakes any constructions in eco-fragile areas in and around the Amarnath Cave “it has the potential of snowballing into major trouble.”

“The Supreme Court of India has expressed concern over 90 deaths which occurred during this year’s yatra. At a place where more than six lakh people will visit, 90 deaths are expected to happen. But due to rising number of yatris the environment is getting disturbed,” he claimed.

Conserving environment

The Hurriyat leader said that he strongly believed that the principles of conservation for environment and administrative facilitation as applied to the pilgrimage to Holy Gangotri and the larger conservation plans for the Holy Ganga river be applied to the pilgrimage to Amarnath shrine “as was the established practice in the past.”

The hardline Hurriyat leader also expressed his concern over interference of the state government in the affairs of Muslim shrines in Kashmir.

“In the affairs of Hindu shrines Hindu governor (N N Vohra) is calling shots while Muslim shrines and mosques are being controlled by the chief minister (Omar Abdullah). If government control on both institutions isn’t ended soon, we will launch a massive agitation,” he warned.