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Letter to Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister,
Jammu & Kashmir
State
THE HINDU JAGRAN
FORUM-USA
3145 Gilbert Avenue,
Roseburg, OR (USA) 97470
Subject:
Sale of DAV School in Srinagar and Massive
destruction of temples in J&K amounts to state sponsored Talibanization of the
state: Hindu religious and educational infrastructure must be protected by the
state and a Waqf like Hindu Board be formed for their upkeep, development and
governance.
Hon'ble Chief
Minister Azad,
It is
abundantly clear that the unwarranted sale of one of the leading DAV High
Schools in Srinagar, against which the teachers and the students had to march in
streets to register their protest, did not have the approval of the community
who are the real owners of this infrastructure (attachment A). This represents
another example of deliberate yet a “tactical
failure”
by the J&K Govt. in protecting the Hindu community of
Kashmir.
It also further strengthens the case of the Kashmiri Hindus as a minority
community for a change in the political set up to protect their community,
culture, educational institutions and religion. The systematic elimination of
minorities from the Islamic domain of
Kashmir says volumes about the contradictory nature of
the Islamic political culture when compared to
India's secular
system.
If the Kashmir Govt. is sincere in its
commitment to enforcing the proclaimed goals of equal protection of citizens
under a system of political secularism, it must without any excuses issue an
executive order, similar to the recent one issued by it for protecting religious
shrines, to cover the sale of the DAV School in Srinagar as well as other sales
of educational institutions (attachment B). All such deals involving the
religious and educational institution and their estates after 1989 must be
declared null and void and accounts of the trusts engaged in these extra legal
transactions under duress must be sealed.
It is hardly
difficult to understand that all these criminal activities by the Islamists
represent the extension of their foreign inspired “civilizational
war” undertaken to remove all traces of the historical Hindu past in the
vale of Kashmir. Massive protests by the remaining less than 5,000 Kashmiri
Pandits in the valley against criminally altering the socio-cultural
complexion of Kashmir has been of no avail. On the contrary these extremely
vulnerable non-Muslim Kashmiris have been exposed to serious intimidation and
threats by a very powerful “Islamic Land Mafia” that if they do not
stop protesting they would face dire consequences like the rest of the exiled
Pandit community.
Disregarding the
massive fatal attacks and life ending injuries inflicted upon non-Muslims
i.e., Hindus and Sikhs during the past two decades, which consumed thousands
of lives, the police establishment of the J&K Govt. two weeks ago, based on
manufactured yet concealed evidence, shamelessly boasted that since 1989 only
209 Pandits lost their lives at the hands of the militants.
What a bald
faced lie in an attempt to cover up and inadvertently aid the Islamic
conspiracy against non-Muslims and India by a Govt. maintained with the Indian
taxpayers funds. This politically motivated fabrication of a police report
utterly failed to acknowledge dozens of massacres that took place in
Kashmir - among them the carnages that bloodied the
mother earth at Sangrampora, Gool, Wandhama, Talwani, Brariangan, Pethibug,
and Nandigam. It did not make even a casual mention of the Pandit lives lost
in bomb blasts, cross fires, deliberate violence, arson, harshness imposed by
refugee life, heat, lack of resources, sunstrokes, hypertension, cancer, skin
& other diseases, snake and scorpion bites, abnormally high heart attacks and
heart failures etc.
1) Hindu Institutions being destroyed at an unprecedented Scale:
The process of desecration, loot,
vandalizing and destruction of temples has continued in J&K under the anti-Hindu
Islamic rule through generations with intent to wipe out all traces of religious
and cultural symbols of Hindus. These targets besides the temples included
libraries, schools, universities and ashrams. After country became free and
Kashmir acceded to the Union of India in 1947 the
destruction and desecration of temples under the new Islamic regimes wearing
secular turbans received added impetus and acceleration.
Temple lands,
cremation grounds and other such entities belonging to Hindus were usurped and
utilized for expansion of the Islamic populace. The famous Bhairavnath
temple
of Chattabal, Srinagar was locked up by the police. The judicial case pending in
court concerning this temple was never allowed to be decided. Precious lands
around Hari Parbat hill, Durganag temple of Srinagar and lands at several Hindu
places of worship in the Valley were slowly and steadily turned into lands under
occupation of the Muslim trusts (Maqboozai-Ahali-Islam).
2) The law and order situation in the
Valley since 1986 deteriorated progressively and temple desecration became the
order of the day.
The Islamic
fundamentalist conspiracy against Hindus received unqualified support from the
Pan Islamic Movement and from across the border. Here are some of the glaring
examples that defy and shred into a million pieces the tall claims made by the
Muslim leaders of Kashmir about their dedication and adherence to nationalism,
multiculturalism, secularism, Kashmiriyat and religious freedom.
In 1967, Shivala temple, Chotta Nazar,
Srinagar was
desecrated. Again in 1984 Shri Hanuman temple at Hari Singh High Street was damaged and in the same year Arya Samaj
temple of
Wazir Bagh, Srinagar was burnt down.
3)
Temples
desecrated and damaged in
Kashmir
from 1990 to December 1992
1. DASHNAMI AKHARA,
SRINAGAR
2. GANPATYAR
TEMPLE
3. RAGHUNATH MANDIR,
SRINAGAR
4. SHIVA
TEMPLE,
JAWAHAR NAGAR, SRINAGAR
5. HANUMAN MANDIR,
SRINAGAR
6. SHIVA
TEMPLE,
BARBAR SHAH, SRINAGAR
7. JAI
DEVI
TEMPLE, BIJBEHARA
8. VIJESHWAR
TEMPLE, BIJBEHARA
9. SHIVA MANDIR, BIJBEHARA
10. RAGHUNATH
TEMPLE, ANANTNAG
11. GAUTAM
NAG
TEMPLE, ANANTNAG
12. THREE
TEMPLES
OF LUKHBHAVAN, LARKIPURA, ANANTNAG
13. WANPOH MANDIR, ANANTNAG
14. SHAILPUTRI
TEMPLE, BARAMULLA
15. DAYALGAM MANDIR, ANANTNAG
16. BHAIRAVANATH MANDIR, BARAMULLA
17. BHAIRAVANATH MANDIR, SOPORE
18. RUPABHAVANI MANDIR, VASAKURA
19. KHIRBHAVANI MANDIR, GANDERBAL
20. SHIVA
TEMPLE,
GANDERBAL
21. MATTAN
TEMPLE,
ANANTNAG
There have been reports of further destruction
of some 39 temples in
Kashmir
after December 6, 1992 for which FIR were filed. Please note that FIRs
on all destruction cases were not filed with the authorities in view of the
complicity of the administration and warnings of retaliation against the
complainants by the Islamic terrorists. According to local eye witnesses
accounts there were additional 38 temples that were vandalized after
December 6, 1992.
These examples represent only a fraction
of the systematic mass destruction of thousands of temples in J&K after
independence of
India when the
Islamists assumed the total and unfettered control of the state. These examples
are listed in details in our letter of February 21, 2008 (may be seen on website:
http://www.bharatjagran.com/
under the heading - “Massive destruction of temples in J&K and Talibanization of
the state”).
4) What is difficult to understand is that
when the Govt. re-built Cherar-e-Shareef why can’t it re-build Hindu temples
destroyed in the wake of ethnic cleansing unleashed by the local and foreign
Jihadists? The Indian
Parliament adopted a law in 1991 specifically requiring that –
“the status of religious places, as on
August 15, 1947 shall be retained". Under the present circumstances it is
obligatory upon the Govt. as envisaged by the above referred law to maintain the
integrity of religious entities as it stood in 1947. The J&K Government while
flouting the law of the national legislature very conveniently divorced itself
from this commitment. As always, the Indian authorities looked the other way.
Hon'ble Chief Minister, government's
indifference towards the temple security and their functioning can only be
termed as its support to persecution of Hindus and denial of their freedom of
religion: Govt. must realize that the temples and their endowments have
been built over the centuries by our forefathers and therefore, it is the
community which is their real owner. Therefore, it is the community which must
have the final say in the management and utilization of temple resources and
management of educational institution.
5) Given the militant exposition and
expansionist designs of the majority community - the Hindus as a minority in J&K
need & must get special protection:
Your government’s recent order making it mandatory to obtain its approval for
the sale and purchase of properties held by Hindu shrines and religious places
is right on the mark. However, this is only an initial step to correct the
situation that has been wronged over many decades. It must be followed by other
appropriate administrative measures like formation of a Waqf- like Hindu Board
for their protection, preservation, administration and development.
For maintaining the real religious autonomy the
Hindu community must retain power to decide the future of its educational and
religious institutions and not the antagonistic work force of the biased J&K
Govt. Clearly under estimating the possibility of the prevailing anti-Hindu
policies coming into play in their dealings, particularly when their personal
faith teaches them that Hindus are the infidels and kafirs, will be a grievous
mistake.
6)
Formation of a Waqf like autonomous Hindu Board for Hindu institutions'
governance under the Hindu community’s guidance is essential: Hon'ble Chief Minister, we strongly believe that for
social, religious, educational and community affairs and services and temple
administration there must be a representative but autonomous Hindu Board with
full jurisdiction over temple governance and management. Since the right of
freedom to manage religious places is available to the Muslim community which
constitutes the majority in your state, where is the justification to deny this
right to Hindus?
7) The Govt. must restore
community’s vital role in temple and educational institutions management through
Hindu Advisory Councils: Such Councils representing the community and
its leaders could play an important role in oversight, day to day administration
and decision making process of the endowments department and
temple Trusts.
Additionally these Councils should have full authority for asking the Govt. to
take swift measures for stopping desecration and decimation of the Hindu
religious and educational infrastructure and for bringing the culprits to book.
8) Chief
Minister Azad, we hereby urge you to take prompt action for protecting Hindu
educational institutions, temples and Hindu community properties from illegal sales and annul all such sales
that took place after 1988 by declaring them as “sales under duress.”
This will be in keeping with the norms and practices in all open and democratic
societies; and the secular Constitution of India.
Restoration of the
DAV High School in Srinagar to
community management should be a priority, before the School campus is
demolished by its new but unlawful owners.
If this double standard and extremely
discriminatory policy against Hindus in
Kashmir is not
reversed, you can be sure that it will eventually transcend the state boundaries
and impact adversely the privileges enjoyed by the Muslims as a minority
community in
India.
In that case they will have nobody to blame except their fellow religionists and
the Muslim Govt. of Kashmir. It is also relevant to point out that almost all of
the budgetary expenditures in the J&K state are gifted by the Indian Govt. with
taxes mostly paid by Hindus. Surely these taxpayers do not fund the Kashmir
Govt. so it could destroy the age old Hinduism and its infrastructure for
realizing the forced talibanization of the state.
Thank you Mr. Chief Minister.
We shall be looking forward to your response and prompt action towards resolving
this highly explosive but easily solvable situation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jagan Kaul
Krishan Bhatnagar
Hindu Jagran Forum (USA)
May 11, 2008
Attachment A
School building sold; students, teachers take to streets
The Tribune,
Chandigarh
Friday, May 2,
2008,
Srinagar, May 1 :
Traffic on the
Srinagar airport road was today affected for an
hour after students and teaching staff of
DAV High School
protested against the sale of school. The students and teaching staff of more
than 60-year-old school today took to streets and blocked the main road at
Magarmal Bagh.
Raising slogans against the school management,
the students and teachers said the sale of the school building and its ground
was illegal.
"Give us our school back," they demanded and
appealed to authorities to intervene and save their future. They alleged that
Kashmiri Pandit management without taking the parents and teaching staff into
confidence had reportedly sold the school property. However, one person, who
removed the school boards, said they have purchased the entire complex from the
management. We have legal documents, including the sale deed, he said.
Hundreds of vehicles remained stranded for an
hour as there was no police official. However, the traffic was allowed after a
group of police personnel from Shergrahi police station reached the spot and
assured the agitators that they would take the matter with the higher
authorities. The DAV school was one of the leading schools before the Pandit
management migrated from here after the eruption of militancy.
-- UNI
Attachment B
Valley temple trusts
now need Govt OK to sell their property
by Toufiq Rashid( Indian Express- May 01,2008)
SRINAGAR, MAY 1: In
order to safeguard the religious institutions and shrines of Kashmiri Pandits in
the Valley, the J&K Government has passed an order which makes it mandatory to
seek the Government’s approval for the sale and purchase of such property.
The Government is also likely to investigate the
deals so far and take action in three months.
The
April 16, 2008 order has come following an inquiry report which reveals
violations in the process of sale and purchase of land belonging to Pandit
religious institutions in the Valley.
In most of the cases, the shrine managers have
been found guilty. The properties include shops and land belonging to temple
trusts.
“We had ordered an inquiry by the Settlement
Commissioner of
Jammu and Kashmir
in February and found that there have been many cases where land and property of
temples and other religious institutions of Kashmiri Pandits were sold by the
mahants or temple managers. The order has been issued to safeguard these
properties and put some checks and balances in place,” said Masaud Samoon,
Secretary, Revenue, Jammu and Kashmir.
The J&K government passed an order stating that
Deputy Commissioner of the area will be responsible for shrine properties. No
sale deal can be registered without prior approval of the Deputy Commissioner of
the concerned area. The order says that no revenue records should be issued to
the mahants or managers of the shrine without the permission of the Deputy
Commissioner.
The order states that any deal executed by any
mahant or manager shall have to be attested by a Tehsildar after getting
clearance from the Deputy Commissioner.
The issue was highlighted by a pressure group of
Kashmiri Pandits who stayed back in the Valley after 1990. The group, Kashmiri
Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, had even filed a case in the
Jammu and Kashmir
High Court demanding that all deals involving the temple properties after 1990
be cancelled and accounts of the trusts be sealed.
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