VHP says Geelani guilty of contempt of court

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Thursday sought action against separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, accusing him of contempt of court for remarks he made on a Supreme Court order.

Taking cognisance of the over 100 deaths during the Amarnath pilgrimage this year, the Supreme Court had directed the government to set up a committee to propose measures for improving roads and infrastructure facilities for pilgrims to the Amarnath Cave Shrine in south Kashmir.

Geelani had protested that laying metalled roads and taking up construction on the route of the pilgrimage, which falls in mountain terrain that is also forested, would come at huge cost
to the environment, besides violating forest laws.

VHP state unit president Rama Kant Dubey, talking to mediapersons on Thursday, said,
“There should be contempt proceedings against Syed Ali Shah Geelani for speaking against Supreme Court orders for improving the track and other infrastructure for safety of pilgrims taking the arduous pilgrimage to Amarnath Shrine”.

Geelani had earlier threatened to launch a massive protest after Eid against the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board’s decision to construct concrete structures on the pilgrimage route and lay a metalled road. The separatist leader had also said the creation of such infrastructure to facilitate a pilgrimage was “cultural invasion”, and blamed the government of India for using the holy pilgrimage as a means to influence Kashmiris with its ideology.
Geelani had also said the duration of the pilgrimage should be reduced to two weeks, from the present two months.