Pandits for clarity prior to implementation
An amalgam of displaced Kashmiri Hindus (pandits) has demanded that sale deeds of all the properties belonging to various places of worship of the community executed since 1990 should be declared null and void in the temple ordinance the state government is contemplating to issue in coming weeks should clearly mention that.
“The J&K, before promulgating the Temple Ordinance, must declare its contents. It should not be eyewash but must include all the temples in the Valley, irrespective of their affiliation and all the sale deeds executed since 1990 should be declared null and void,” All-Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC) said in a statement issued in Jammu.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah had said earlier this week that he has directed the state’s revenue department to prepare a note for the Cabinet for promulgation of the ordinance for the protection and management of temples in Kashmir Valley.
The APMCC termed the chief minister’s assurance as a good step saying even though government could have passed the pending bill in this recently concluded budget session of the state Assembly it chose to “hoodwink” the Kashmiri pandits by resorting to the ordinance. Amalgam chairman Vinod Pandit said, however, the government must clarify the contents of the ordinance before promulgation to avoid any confrontation later on. “The Kashmir pandits won’t accept any ordinance if it tries to please some so-called trusts and other individuals by leaving them out of the purview of ordinance,” he said.
A statement issued by the APMCC said that in a meeting of the core group the members warned the government against any move of excluding some particular temples, muths or holy springs, hillocks, etcetera managed by some individuals or trusts and asked the government to bring under the ordinance purview all such places located in the Valley from Jawahar Tunnel to Uri “so that a uniform protection system and renovation is taken up”. It also demanded that the temples of Valley should be allowed to be fully controlled by Kashmiri pandits anole as that would serve as a big confidence building measure for them. The meeting also asked the government to declare a timeframe for the issuance of ordinance and also declare each and every sale of any temple, temple land, shrines, property, agriculture or horticulture land belonging to temples and shrines since 1990 as null and void. “Any ordinance that does not address these issues would not be acceptable to Kashmir pandits and any move to exclude some major temples from the purview of the ordinance would be fought tooth and nail,” it warned.
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