Amarnath land row: Towards a feasible solution

By Syed Ali Safvi

The crisis in Jammu and Kashmir are compounding with each passing day. The two regions of the state are up against each other over a stretch of land. The administration is undecided on how to deal with the present turmoil. Going by the present ground realities, there seems no light at the end of the tunnel.

Here are some remedial measures through which the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir could be mitigated.

1) All the members of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), including the chairman, and of Mata Vaishno Devi Board (SMVDB) should resign and a new board should be constituted, comprising members of Hindu community belonging to the state, preferably Kashmiri Pandits. The government officials and politician should not be allowed to become members of the board. The board must be completely apolitical, governed by religious heads having no political association with any political party, like in case of the Dargah (Khawaja Moin-ud-Din Chishti) Trust and Nizamuddin Dargah Management Committee (NDMC).

Likewise, members of Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Auqaf Trust (JKMAT) should also resign and the management of trust should be handed over to a body of Muslim scholars, belonging to the state. Politicians should not have any say in the Trust affairs.

2) Limit the number of yatris to Shri Amarnath Shrine as has been done in the case of Kailash Mansarovar (China) and Gangotri & Gamukh (Uttarakhand). Such a restriction will ensure smooth and effective management of yatra. It will also ensure foolproof security to yatris. Furthermore, it will also keep Kashmir's ecology, environment and fresh water sources ("80 per cent of drinking water to Kashmir comes from the streams of Lidder and Sindh, which are fed from glaciers through which the yatra takes place") clean. Experts believe that if the growing number of Yatris to the cave is not checked "it would render Kashmir fresh water streams un-ustable in the next two years." The experts have also opined that the increasing number of yatris would impact the area's wild life, and "generate huge amounts of green house gases." Nitish Sengupta Committee, which was formed after 1996 snowstorm in which 273 yatris died, too had recommended in its report (December 1996) that the number of yatris visiting the cave be regulated.

3) Limit the period of yatra. A two-month long yatra does not make any sense. Even the custodian of the Chhari Mubarak or holy mace, Shri Mahant Depender Giri has questioned the logic behind the extention of yatra period, which he says is "unspiritual". The time period of yatra should be curtailed by one month.

4) The Indian government should throw open the Srinagar-Muzaffarad road for trade so that Kashmiris don't feel choked and enslaved. Interestingly, during his visit to Kashmir in April this year, Indian Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said that the trade on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route could begin within three months. However, when fruitgrowers, facing Hobson's choice, tried to take their fruit, rotting by the roadside owing to the attacks and blockade, to Muzaffarabad they were showered with bullets.

5) Indian Prime Minister should personally intervene into the matter and hold unconditional talks with the members of Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangarsh Samiti (SAYSS) and members of the Coordination Committee comprising both factions of Hurriyat, and representatives of various political, religious, social and traders organizations to chalk out an amicable solution accepted to both the parties.

6) The Jammu & Kashmir Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Act, 2001 should be changed owing to its communal nature. The law is against "Kashmir's syncretic traditions". Experts believe that "it (the law) is a poorly conceived law, having neither considered an environmental impact assessment nor having kept the environmental concerns in sight."