Rakib Altaf
SRINAGAR, Sept 4: Life remains affected in Kashmir valley due to a strike called by senior separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to protest over what he calls was “politicisation” of the annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine, located at an altitude of 3880m deep in Himalayas.
Schools and colleges are closed and so are shops and other business establishments, although partially in many parts of the valley, witnesses say. Traffic is also partially hit.
However, most of the banks and government offices continue to function normally.
A large contingent of police and paramilitaries in riot gear were seen lining streets of old parts of the city, the witnesses said.
There are yet no reports of any violence or protests from any part of the Valley.
‘Military project’
Geelani, who heads the hardline faction of the separatist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference, has blamed New Delhi of turning the Amarnath yatra – which draws more than half a million Hindu worshippers from across the country annually – into a “military project” aimed at “strengthening its occupation” in the valley.
The pilgrimage to the cave, which passes through ice-fed streams and glaciers, is one of the holiest for Hindus who come to worship an ice stalagmite believed to be an icon of deity Lord Shiva.
Recently the supreme court pulled up the state authorities over a high number of deaths during this year’s pilgrimage which ended Aug 2. It also asked the government to explain why it allowed a large number of unregistered pilgrims, given the threat it posed it to the fragile ecology of the mountainous area.
The separatist leader recently said the extra rush of pilgrims was a “ploy to boost the morale of the Army” in the conflict-ridden state where tens of thousands have died since an armed rebellion started more than two decades ago.
“On the website of India’s Press Information Bureau, an article published in 2008 reads ‘The urge to salvation will attract the devotees towards the challenging heights of Kashmir. Because this would also be an act of solidarity with our brave soldiers who are at war with the enemy to guard our border’,” Geelani told reporters last week.
‘Throwback’
The fresh row has started after reports that the apex court directed the government to construct a road to the cave shrine and create infrastructure for the pilgrims, which the authorities deny repeatedly.
“We have not received any such directions to construct a permanent road, nor do we have any plans to do so,” various ministers said at least twice since the issue surfaced.
In 2008, the region witnessed a huge popular uprising with people spilling onto streets chanting anti-India slogans after the government decided to transfer 100 acres of forest land to management of the cave shrine. At least 60 protestors, mostly youth, died in police or paramilitary firing.
Geelani, however, said he was not targetting the pilgrimage per se.
“Amarnath Yatra is going on for the past 145 years. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are not against it. Instead they host these pilgrims and will continue to do so,” Geelani said at the press conference.
“But now India has given it (yatra) the shape of a military project to continue the Indian occupation of Kashmir.”
Geelani’s call has been supported by Syed Salahuddin, head of the United Jehad Council – a Pakistan-based alliance of militant groups – and the Bar council of the valley’s lawyers.
