Hurriyat (G) warns JK Govt over ‘Amarnath plans’

‘Fulfill Our Demands On Yatra Or Face Resistance’

The Hurriyat Conference (G) led by Syed Ali Geelani Monday said the recent order asking the J&K Government to place pre-fabricated cement tiles on way from Panchtarni to Amarnath Cave has “strengthened the amalgam’s apprehensions about the government plan to widen and construct macadamized road to cave in a phased manner.”  The Hurriyat advisory council, at a meeting held today with its chairman Syed Ali Geelani in chair, said “the plan, if executed, would prove disastrous for the Valley’s ecology, environment, forests and water resources.”  The meeting had a detailed review of the order and the public awareness campaign started by the Hurriyat team headed by advocate SM Reshi on the issue. 

 In a statement today, a Hurriyat spokesman said the advisory council termed it “unfortunate that the basic points raised by the Hurriyat with regard to Yatra were not discussed and instead of responding to its objections the matters of secondary importance were discussed.”  The spokesman said the Hurriyat has been since 2008 demanding the “dissolution of Shrine Board and stressing on assigning the management and other affairs of yatra to Kashmiri pandits.”   “We are putting forth our arguments on scientific basis that keeping the Yatra on for two months and increasing the number of yatris fifty times will have extremely deleterious impact on the state’s ecology, environment, forests and water resources,” he said. “It will also have negative and harmful impact on human habitations.”

 The said in view of these “disastrous ramifications” the Hurriyat has been demanding “limiting and decreasing the Yatra duration and number of yatris and regulate it the pilgrimage under law.”   The Hurriyat has threatened “strong public resistance if its demands on the Yatra were not fulfilled immediately.”  Meanwhile, the Hurriyat asked the team constituted by it for public awareness to intensify its campaign by meeting all the sections of society, including civil society members, lawyers, journalists, traders, transporters and students and teachers of colleges and universities.  The spokesman clarified that the people of Kashmir were not basically against Yatra and they would continue their tradition of hospitality for yatris in future also but they “would not allow political aggression under the cover of simple religious custom and that they would not also allow anything that the harm the state’s interests.”  The spokesman alleged that the state rulers had in the past ‘sold out’ the state’s resources to New Delhi to stay in power and they would not hesitate to make sell-out of state interest for realizing their personal ends.

Source: http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2012/Nov/27/hurriyat-g-warns-jk-govt-over-amarnath-plans--67.asp