When Amarnath set Kashmir on boil

Himanshu Shekhar What happened on May 26, 2008 was a mere transfer of land by a state government to a religious shrine board. But when sentiments run high, it is easy to sway people to any tune. People engaged into violent demonstrations without seeing the implications of what they were doing. Jammu and Kashmir was left burning for next 60 days. Perhaps the state was facing its biggest crisis post Kargil war in 1999. Secessionist movements are not new to the valley and this time a minor land controversy once again divided the state on communal and regional grounds. As news channels debated the row in their safe, air conditioned studious and political parties latched on the opportunity of mobilizing their cadre and votes in view of upcoming elections, innocent people bore the brunt. Amarnath land transfer On Jan 26 this year New Delhi reached an agreement with PDP leader and the then Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad where both parties agreed to transfer 100 acres of forest land to Shri Amanrnath Shrine Board in the main Kasmir valley, so that temporary shelters and other basic amenities to Hindu pilgrims could be provided. The land transfer was initially seen as a threat to environment of the region because shelters would practically mean cutting down of trees for preparation of roads. Initial protest centered on the concerns of ecological balance. Both centre and state failed to address the issue then. The separatist leaders in the valley soon joined the agitation sensing a widespread support for their own ulterior motives. People in the valley, majority of who were Muslims were made to believe that the land transfer to a Hindu shrine board was a sinister attempt to change the demography of the region. As the police went on offensive crackdown, Pakistani flags were hoisted and all attempts to start the dialogue failed. And the Sheikhs and Saiyyed Muslims in the valley shared stage for the first time since 1947. Gulam Nabi Azad continued in office even after Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP withdrew support from the coalition government. Seeing widespread backlash and dwindling votes Gulam Nabi Azad revoked the land transfer agreement in one last attempt to save the government. But this effort failed to yield result as PDP refused to support the government even after the cancellations of transfer and hence Azad had to finally resign. The land transfer and later its revoke left a bad taste among people in Jammu. They came out on streets against cancellation which was backed by parties primarily supporting Hindu nationalism, like the VHP and the BJP. And then Jammu burned People in Jammu including Muslims had supported the land transfer in general. Nation witnesses the protest spreading like fire in Jammu through news flashed in television channels. Very soon the regional protest assumed gigantic proportions when the supply of food and essential commodities to the Kashmir valley was cut off by protesting people in Jammu. Whole of Kashmir faced serious crisis. In trying to portray the land row as a sensational fever that had gripped the whole of Kashmir, one thing which was deliberately ignored by the media was that, it was just a section in North West Kashmir, which had forced the state government to revoke land transfer and not the whole valley. People residing to the west of Pirpanjal, many among whom were fruit growers and orchard owners, were first to protest against land transfer. Their immediate fear being majority working hands would leave the farms in search of greener pastures after land transfer. But once Jammu retaliated in form of blocking the Jammu Srinagar highway, these owners threatened to sell their products across LoC in Pakistan! The Amarnath land row which resulted in so much damage to land, life and property was not as much about religious sentiment as about the economic interests of the people which was of course manipulated by the politicians to suit their own selfish interests. A time came in the Kashmir agitation when it appeared the violence would never stop and there were rumors that partition of Kashmir is the only solution now. But as it happened, sense did prevail among the people and calm eventually descended upon the valley, but not before a lot of damage was done.