If there is anybody who has gained from the controversy over the Amarnath shrine board issue, then it is the separatists and the communal forces.
For a long time they didn't have an issue and suddenly all our political parties happily gave the anti-Indian forces, something that they needed so desperately.
People of the country and state are paying for the former Governor (Lt Gen retired) SK Sinha's unwise move in the form of violence, fall of the government and the rise in communal feelings. Mixing religion with politics is always dangerous.
When it is done in a troubled state like Kashmir, it becomes even more dangerous. In a matter of days, the entire peace was broken and voices like Hurriyat that had been marginalised are gaining strength.
Veteran journalist Prem Shankar Jha writes that until recently North and South Block were congratulating themselves on solving the Kashmir issue as infiltration was down, tourism was back and violence was contained.
But an immature decision led to valley erupting into protests and now the old bitterness is back among both the sides: the Muslims of Valley and the Hindus of Jammu, who are feeling equally hurt and victimised.
The creation of Shree Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) with the Governor as its head was the first move along with extension of Amarnath Yatra to 45 days towards creating a controversy. The recent decision over transfer of land added fuel to fire.
"The NDA government's decision to make the governor the head of the SASB, provided he was a Hindu, turned a pilgrimage into a political action. It was also a surreptitious violation of India's constitution...", writes Jha, in Outlook.
Now with Ghulam Nabi Azad-led government having fallen over the controversy, nobody has benefited. Congress, PDP, National Congress and the BJP are all to be blamed for this crisis. BJP should have taken a far reasonable position than raising the communal
Celebrating the spirit of multi-cultural India: Indian website focusing on politics, sports, culture, religion and society.
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Politics over Pilgrimage: Amarnath Yatra
Popular Posts
-
The photograph on the left shows an idol of Lord Ganesha, which is installed on a road side in Hyderabad, during the ongoing Ganesh Chaturth...
-
At last, somebody* had the guts to say it to Bal Thackeray, the cartoonist-turn-politician of Maharashtra who feels that Mumbai is his fiefd...
-
For 18 years Anil Kumble , the present Indian cricket captain, has been almost the lone warrior for India. Though the trinity of Tendulkar ...
-
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi was thrashed in the Maharashtra assembly by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) MLAs for taking oath in Hindi...
-
Renowned painter MF Hussain is among India's most famous artists but today he is forced to take up the citizenship of the tiny Qatar, ju...
-
The voices in support of Narendra Modi have clearly grown louder in recent times. But the top traders' (err...businessmen) declara...
-
Cricketers are earning enough money and nobody can belittle the achievement of the young team that won the Twenty20 world cup in South Afric...
-
Shoes have been thrown publicly at three politicians in the country in recent days. A serving Home Minister, a former Union Home Minister an...
-
Either it's attack on North Indians in Maharashtra, the Gujjar agitation or the recent mob violence across Punjab and Haryana after the ...
-
New media is transforming journalism in a big way in India. Gone are the days when broadsheet newspapers were the sole carrier of news...