'Restore original order on Amarnath land'
Opposition leader L K Advani on Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately restore the original order of the state government that earmarked 100 acres to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board for setting up pre-fabricated structures fo...
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: Maintaining that the problem in Jammu and Kashmir today was essentially ``nationalists versus separatists,������ Opposition leader L K Advani on Thursday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately restore the original order of the state government that earmarked 100 acres to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board for setting up pre-fabricated structures for pilgrims.
The order, Mr Advani said in a letter written on Wednesday to the prime minister, encapsulated both the law and the judicial pronouncements made on two occasions on the issue by the J&K high court. ``I feel greatly saddened by the loss of so many lives, be it in Jammu or in the Kashmir Valley. The government should, at least at this late hour, recognise the gravity of the situation and speedily take a just and fair decision, rather than adopt a do-nothing policy,������ the Opposition leader said.
���It appears that the government is completely out of its depth in dealing with the land transfer row. We are also convinced that the government is not very serious about finding a solution to this problem,������ the BJP leader said. The problem in J&K, according to Mr Advani, was not Hindu versus Muslim, or even Jammu region versus the Valley. ``It���s essentially nationalists versus separatists. The people of Jammu, supported by the rest of the country, strongly feel that the revocation of the Cabinet order on Amarnath was purely under separatist pressure. There is a huge sense of hurt and injury in Indian public opinion which has resulted in the nationalist opinion being alienated because the separatists have to be pleased,������ Mr Advani contended.
Mr Advani said the government could solve the problem by ���acting straight���. This could be done, Mr Advani said, by merely following the law and the judicial orders on the subject. Taking refuge behind the J&K Shri Amarnathji Shrine Act, 2000, which provides for the constitution of the Shrine Board, the BJP leader said that it was the board���s duty to provide facilities for performance of worship by the pilgrims, to undertake construction of building for accommodation of the pilgrims, to provide sanitation facilities, communication links and medical relief.
The Act, Mr Advani contended, was in consonance with the secular polity of India. ``The government does not run religious institutions, nor does it manage them. This function is best left to the institutions of every religious denomination. This mandate emanates from Articles 26 and 27 of the Indian Constitution,������ the BJP leader observed. The law, he pointed out, was subsequently upheld twice by the J&K high court ��� first by a single-judge bench (April 15, 2005) and later by a division bench (May 17, 2005).
A joint reading of the legislation and the court order, he said, leads to a clear conclusion. ``The duty of providing amenities to the pilgrims is of the shrine board. The government has to give land to the shrine board for the user. The latter may request others to put up temporary structures during the yatra���s tenure. The revoked Cabinet order precisely sought to implement the legislative and the judicial directions,������ Mr Advani argued.
The order, Mr Advani said in a letter written on Wednesday to the prime minister, encapsulated both the law and the judicial pronouncements made on two occasions on the issue by the J&K high court. ``I feel greatly saddened by the loss of so many lives, be it in Jammu or in the Kashmir Valley. The government should, at least at this late hour, recognise the gravity of the situation and speedily take a just and fair decision, rather than adopt a do-nothing policy,������ the Opposition leader said.
���It appears that the government is completely out of its depth in dealing with the land transfer row. We are also convinced that the government is not very serious about finding a solution to this problem,������ the BJP leader said. The problem in J&K, according to Mr Advani, was not Hindu versus Muslim, or even Jammu region versus the Valley. ``It���s essentially nationalists versus separatists. The people of Jammu, supported by the rest of the country, strongly feel that the revocation of the Cabinet order on Amarnath was purely under separatist pressure. There is a huge sense of hurt and injury in Indian public opinion which has resulted in the nationalist opinion being alienated because the separatists have to be pleased,������ Mr Advani contended.
Mr Advani said the government could solve the problem by ���acting straight���. This could be done, Mr Advani said, by merely following the law and the judicial orders on the subject. Taking refuge behind the J&K Shri Amarnathji Shrine Act, 2000, which provides for the constitution of the Shrine Board, the BJP leader said that it was the board���s duty to provide facilities for performance of worship by the pilgrims, to undertake construction of building for accommodation of the pilgrims, to provide sanitation facilities, communication links and medical relief.
The Act, Mr Advani contended, was in consonance with the secular polity of India. ``The government does not run religious institutions, nor does it manage them. This function is best left to the institutions of every religious denomination. This mandate emanates from Articles 26 and 27 of the Indian Constitution,������ the BJP leader observed. The law, he pointed out, was subsequently upheld twice by the J&K high court ��� first by a single-judge bench (April 15, 2005) and later by a division bench (May 17, 2005).
A joint reading of the legislation and the court order, he said, leads to a clear conclusion. ``The duty of providing amenities to the pilgrims is of the shrine board. The government has to give land to the shrine board for the user. The latter may request others to put up temporary structures during the yatra���s tenure. The revoked Cabinet order precisely sought to implement the legislative and the judicial directions,������ Mr Advani argued.
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