PDP now opposes the transfer, but records show how it said the opposite(Indian Express)

ON THE RECORD-Indian Express
February 26, 2008: ‘The proprietary status of forest land shall remain unchanged’
PDP now opposes the transfer, but records show how it said the opposite

As the PM holds an all-party meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, we reproduce the key documents around the Amarnath land-transfer
Memorandum for Submission to the Cabinet

Government of Jammu and Kashmir Civil Sectt: Forest Department
Subject:- Use of Forest Land for non-forestry purpose
1. The Forest Department has received requisitions from various Agencies/Departments for diversion of forest land for non forestry purposes. The Memorandum deals with the cases which were cleared by the Advisory Committee constituted under J&K Forest Conservation Act, 1997 in its 39th Meeting held on July 12, 2007 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary.
These cases were placed before the Cabinet in its meeting on February 26, 2008. The item was “deferred” since some clarifications were necessary about the wildlife perspective in respect of the proposal of Amarnathji Shrine Board (discussed as case 4 of this Memorandum). Pursuant to the above, a Committee of officers was constituted vide Government Order No. 108-Fst of 2008 dated March 17, 2008 to look into that proposal. The report of the Committee has since been received and is attached as Annexure to this Memorandum.
Case No.4
12. Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has made a requisition for diversion of forest land measuring 39.88 hectares falling under Compartment No. 63a/Sindh in Block Kullan, Range Sindh, Sindh Forest Division for construction/provision of buildings/hutments and other infrastructure for visiting Yatries of Amarnath Ji Yatra at Baltal and Domail.
13. Regarding the Wildlife aspect of proposal, Pr. CCF has submitted in the agenda as under:-
(a) Forms part of National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Natural Reservoir, Biosphere Reservoir etc.
Proposed area is adjacent to Thajwas sanctuary. The uncontrolled flow of yatris will cause pollution...
14. The recorded decision of the Advisory Committee is reproduced as under:-
“The Advisory Committee discussed this case in depth. The Chief Wildlife Warden apprised the Committee that he has already submitted his report under No. WLP/Tech/1971/07 dated 11.06.2007 after spot inspection on 27.5.2007, which is reproduced as under:-
It was noticed that the proposed site for construction of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board Complex, falling in the compartment 63(s)/Sindh/Kullan, is located on the right side of Sindh rivulet. The proposed complex does not seem to have any significant impact on the ecology of Thajwas Wildlife Sanctuary. The apprehensions of DFO Sindh and Wildlife Warden,Central that the said complex may have adverse impact on the Wildlife Sanctuary appear to be “over cautious” and an environmentally conservative approach. It is also given to understand that Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board is using pre-fabricated structures, as such likely pollution due to discharge of muck and garbage etc should not be significant . It is presumed that Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board will take necessary environmental safeguards as applicable for such development projects.
In view of the above report, the Advisory Committee cleared the diversion of the above Forest land to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), on the following terms and conditions:-
i) The proprietary status of forest land shall remain unchanged.
ii) The forest land so diverted shall be utilised only for the purpose for which it has been diverted. It shall not be transferred to any other agency without approval of the Forest Department.
iii) The forest land so diverted shall not be mortgaged, re-assigned or sub-leased by user agency in any manner what so ever to any other agency.
(For the rest, see adjacent document)
15. As mentioned above, following the deferment of these cases in the Cabinet meeting on February 26,2008 a Committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Wildlife Warden was constituted vide Govt.order No. 108-FST of 2008 dated March 17,2008 to examine the feasibility of diversion of forest land vis-a-vis Wildlife Perspective for various developmental activities including construction of roads in Baltal-Ranga-Domail area of Ganderbal District as requested by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board. The Committee has submitted its report vide letter dated May 7, 2008 (Annexure-A). The relevant extracts of the Committee’s report are reproduced as under:-
“That the proposed camping sites of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) complex comprising 39.88 hectares of forest land (30.88 Ha. At Baltal and 9.00 Ha at Domail) fall in the Forest Compartment No.63/Sindh of Sindh Forest Division, Forest Department. Theses proposed camping sites do not involve any area of Thajwas Wildlife Sanctuary, which is located on the left side of river Sindh...
17. The case for diversion of Forest Land for non-forestry purpose are required to be submitted to the Cabinet as per the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Forest (Conservation) Act after clearance by the Advisory Committee. However, Hon’ble Supreme Court of India passed directions in W.P. (c) No. 202/1995 in the case titled T.N. Godavarman V/S Union of India & others on 27.04.2007 as under:
“...In the circumstances,we hereby give the following directions, pending our decision on the larger question indicated herein above:
a) The FAC as it stands today will give priority to Projects which need immediate clearances. In this regard, it may be stated that fresh cases may be cleared project-wise by the FAC and thereafter such clearances shall be placed before this court for approval. We make it clear that pending the decision of the larger question, all clearances by the FAC of fresh cases shall be subject to approval by this Court. Before giving approval, we would like to have responses from the CEC in respect of each clearance. In order to avoid delay, we direct the concerned Ministry to give a copy of the clearance to the CEC so that the CEC would give its response expeditiously. We will examine each clearance and decide whether to grant or not to grant the approval thereto. Once the approval is granted by this Court, the matter may be placed before the central government for disposal in accordance with law...”
18. The above said order was sent to the Law Department for giving its opinion as to whether the same is applicable to J&K State. The Law Department has opined as under:
“The order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 27.04.2007 is with regard to the Forest Conservation (Central)Act, and rules framed thereunder. The said Act is not applicable to the State as forests continue to be in the state list. Earlier a similar case was examined and vide UO No. LD(Opn) 2006/77-Fst dated 06.03.2007 the department was advised to move an application before the Hon’ble Court to the effect that the Forest Conservation Act, 1990 (Central Act) is not applicable to the State. The State has its own Forest Act as well as Forest Conservation Act, 1997 and seeks clarification from the Hon’ble Court. The Department is advised to pursue the said matter vigorously with the Hon’ble Supreme Cour and awaits clarification in the matter.”
19. In the meanwhile the PCCF vide communication NO. PCCF/FC/Gen./5/106 dated 21.07.2007 approached the Central Empowered Committee constituted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court... The CEC opined under:
“ The non-forest use of the forest land falling within the State of Jammu and Kashmir is governed by the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Forest (Conservation) Act, 1990 and not by the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. In view of the above, the CEC is of the view that the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order dated 27.04.2007 regarding the functioning of the Forest Advisory Committee constituted under Section 3 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, is not applicable in respect of the proposals examined by the State Level Advisory Committee constituted under the Jammu and Kashmir Forest (Conservation) Act, 1990 as amended from time time.”
20. Advice of the Law Department was sought on the opinion of the CEC and the Law Department said as under:
“The views of the CEC regarding the applicability of the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court is their opinion. The said opinion confirms the views of this Department. However, it would be safe, as advised earlier, to bring the legal position in the notice of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and seek their clarification as the State has its own Forest Conservation Act of 1990.”
21. Subsequently, the matter was referred to the Ld. Advocate General for advice who said as under:
“The Forests continue to be a subject with respect to which the state government has the power to make laws and not the Union. The Jammu and Kashmir Forest (Conservation) Act of 1997 is applicable to the state of J&K and the Rules have also been framed under the said Act. The J&K State Forest (Conservation) Rules provide for the constitution of a Forest Advisory Committee and it is within the jurisdiction of the said Forest Advisory Committee under the J&K State Forest (Conservation) Act to give clearance of projects for the purpose of non forestry purpose. So far as the rest of the States are concerned, the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 is applicable to them. Under the aforesaid Forest (Conservation) Act Forest (Conservation) Rules 1981 had been framed. Under rule 4 of the Forest (Conservation) Rules of 1981 it is provided that the Forest Advisory Committee has to be constituted and the said Forest Advisory Committee shall have the jurisdiction to clear the projects where forest land is required for non forestry purposes. It appears that the Hon’ble Supreme Court in WP (C) 202/1995 titled T.N. Godavarman versus Union of India had stayed the working of the Forest Advisory Committee in terms of the Forest (Conservation) Rules of 1981. Subsequently vide order dated 27.04.2007 the Hon’ble Supreme Court had modified the order and had directed that the Forest Advisory Committee constituted under the Forest Conservation Rules of 2003 as it stands will give clearance of the projects where forest land is required for non forestry purposes and the project would be sent to a Central Empowered Committee, which would give its response expeditiously.
I have gone through the order dated 27.04.2007 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Since neither the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 nor Forest (Conservation) Rules made there under are applicable to the State of J&K. The state is governed by the J&K Forest (Conservation) Act 1997 and Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2000. The Forest Advisory Committee has been constituted under the aforesaid Forest (Conservation) Rules, therefore, the order dated 27.04.2007 does not have any applicability with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir in as much as since the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 and the rules made thereunder are not applicable to the State of J&K. Moreso, a communication issued by the CEC on 27.07.2007 which is on file had clarified that the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court dated 27.04.2007 regarding the functioning of the Forest Advisory Committee under section 3 of the Forest (Conservation) Act is not applicable in respect to the proposals examined by the State Level Advisory Committee constituted under the J&K Forest (Conservation) Act 1997. It is as such advised that the order dated 27.04.2007 does not pertain to the J&K State and proposals in J&K have to be examined by the Forest Advisory Committee constituted under the J&K Forest (Conservation) Act of 1997 and rules made thereunder.”
22. Thereafter, GAD advised the Department to place the matter before the Hon’ble Dy. Chief Minister (Minister I/C Law) in view of two different opinions given by the Law Department and Ld. Advocated General. Accordingly, the matter was placed before the Hon’ble Dy. Chief Minister (Minister I/C Law) who opined as under:
“ There is no material difference between the opinion of Ld. Advocate General and that of the Law Department. The Law Department, by way of abundant caution, seeks to obtain the clarification of the Supreme Court. I concur with the view of the Central Empowered Committee and the Ld. Advocate General.”
23. In view of the clarification given by the CEC constituted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, Ld. Advocate General, Hon’ble Dy. Chief Minister (Minister I/C Law), the Principal Secretary to the Government Forest Department with the approval of the Hon’ble Minister for Forests, submits the above mentioned cases to the cabinet for taking a view and according approval for the use of forest land for non-forestry purposes, in favour of the above said organisations, on the terms and conditions recommended by the Advisory Committee in its 39th meeting, which have been reproduced in this memorandum, together with the recommendation made at para 16 of the memorandum in respect of case no. 4.
Madhav Lal Principal Secretary to the Government of J&KDepartment of Forests

Look who is talking.....

Yasin Malik has called Panun Kashmir as a fanatic organistaion.Imagine a man who has raped,killed,kidnapped,committed financial irregularities and what not calling anyone else a fanatic.Here is a list of his crimes.

Shame the Government of India for he roams free. And now I hear he is sitting ona Hunger Strike-Fast unto death.I wonder why he needs to sit on fast to kill someone.He is an experienced,rather incorrigible killer.If he can kill anyone else I am sure he can kill himself too.

Are the separtists already afraid of the very people they drove away from their houses.Is the fear that the land may finally be given back to the Shrine Board already looming large.Is this some kind of a preventive mechanism?Yasin Malik do what you know.Dont try to get into the garb of a Gandhi because inside you is a sick man.

Kashmir Pandits lambast attack on Press persons

ROOTS IN Kashmir, a frontline organisation of Kashmiri Pandits has strongly crticised the J&K government’s action on the non-violent protestors in Jammu. The government also came in for strong criticism for their manhandling of mediapersons and attacking them with teargas shells.

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“The rough treatment meted out to protestors and the Press in Jammu clearly shows the pro-Kashmir bias of the governor NN Vohra. The agitators in Kashmir were allowed to go scot-free for over eight days, despite the presence of separatists like Yasin Malik, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Omar Farooq, Mehbooba Mufti and others. The government stood like a mute spectator and bowed to the wishes of separatists”, said Aditya Raj Kaul, an activist of the organisation.

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“On the other hand, in Jammu, they have used every conceivable force and coercion to silence the mass uprising among peaceful Hindus of Jammu. The governor is nothing but an agent of the United Progressive Government (UPA) government at the Centre,” added Rashneek Kher of the Roots In Kashmir.

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Common Man on the street: A Hindu protestor shouts slogans against Jammu and Kashmir governor outside the office of a local TV channel which was sealed off by the local government in Jammu, India, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008.

Hindu protestors shout slogans against Jammu and Kashmir governor outside the office of a local TV channel which was sealed off by the local government in Jammu, India, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008. Angry protestors defied curfew orders and took to the streets protesting a recent government decision to cancel the transfer of land to a Hindu shrine in Indian Kashmir, and against the killing of two people by police in a related protest Friday.(AP Photo/Channi Anand)

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“By stopping SMSes, blocking news channels, cutting electricity and water supply, the governor has shown that he is even worse than the British imperialists who ruled India decades ago. The double standards of the government have been clearly exposed by the way they have handled the present crisis.” he added.

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It seems that the entire milk of human kindness has been reserved for the Kashmiri Muslim separatists while the repressive measures have been effectively tested on people of Jammu.

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We would like to remind the government that all repressive measures will be strongly met by non-violent protests. The wave will not be stemmed by highhanded NN Vohra and co-conspirators like Mehbooba Mufti, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Malik, Mirwaiz Farooq and Omar Abdullah.

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We reiterate our full support to the activists of Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti and the common citizens part of the uprising in Jammu. The entire movement will only intensify in the coming days throughout India.

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Jammu unrest reaches Delhi, Kashmiri Hindus clash with police

Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, August 02, 2008

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Hundreds of Kashmiri Hindus backed by political parties clashed with police in the Capital on Saturday while holding a rally to pledge support to activists in Jammu protesting the killings of two people and revocation of the land transfer to the Amarnath Shrine Board.
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Around 3,000 people of all age groups gathered at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the Capital and proceeded towards Parliament House, but were stopped by police officials near the Parliament Street police station.
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When the protesters tried to remove the barriers put up to stop them, the police fired water cannons and baton charged the crowd. According to the protesters, nearly 15 people were injured in the clash.

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A protester takes control of a water cannon during the protest.

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"We condemn the indefinite curfew and the shoot-at-sight orders on peaceful protesters in Jammu and its outskirts. Governor NN Vohra along with his people is trying to crush the entire movement initiated by the common citizens of Jammu against the communal and discriminatory policies of the state government," said Aditya Raj Kaul, one of the protesters.

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"It is a direct attack on the freedom of press and a human rights violation by the state. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) needs to intervene immediately," Kaul added.

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Rahul Sharma, another activist, said: "We immediately demand re-allocation of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board and removal of Governor Vohra."

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The protest was organised by the Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti along with various other civil society organisations and Kashmiri Hindu frontline groups such as Roots In Kashmir, Panun Kashmir, JKNDF and Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch.

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Kaul said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and many cultural, social and political outfits in the capital supported the protest.

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The protesters warned of intensifying their movement in the coming days.

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Unrest begin in Kashmir after the state government allotted 40 hectares of forest land in north Kashmir to the Amarnath Shrine Board May 26 for creating "temporary and pre-fabricated" shelters for Hindu pilgrims to the Amarnath cave shrine.

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The order was revoked on July 1 following violent protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley, in which six people were killed. The protesters alleged that the land would be used to settle outsiders and change the Muslim-majority character of the valley.

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The revocation order silenced the protests in Kashmir but ignited demonstrations in the Hindu-majority Jammu region, which has been reeling under curfews, shutdowns and violent protests for more than a month now. The violence has claimed five lives.

J-K Govt agrees to hold talks with SASS

HISTORY OF THE AMARNATH PILGRIMAGE

Courtesy-Pawan Durani

http://thekashmir.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/amarnath/

The separatists in Kashmir and their “secular” supporters are trying to spread the myth that the Amaranth Yatra is of a recent origin. They claim that it started only after a Muslim shepherd of Batakot, a certain Buta Malik, originally”discovered” the Amarnath cave when he lost his flock and found that it had strayed into the sacred spot some 150 years ago. There is no documentary proof of this so-called discovery, the story having probably been concocted to give credit to Muslims for having started the most popular Hindu pilgrimage of Kashmir.
There is ample and conclusive historical evidence, on the other hand, to prove that the holy cave and the ice lingam were known to the people since very ancient times and have been continuously and regularly visited by pilgrims not only from Kashmir but also from different parts of India.
While the earliest reference to Amarnath can be seen in the Nilamata Purana (v.1324), a 6th century Sanskrit text which depicts the religious and cultural life of early Kashmiris and gives Kashmir’s own creation myth, the pilgrimage to the holy cave has been described with full topographical details in the Bhringish Samhita and the Amarnatha Mahatmya, both ancient texts said to have been composed even earlier.
References to Amarnath, known have also been made in historical chronicles like the Rajatarangini and its sequels and several Western travellers’ accounts also leaving no doubt about the fact that the holy cave has been known to people for centuries. The original name of the tirtha, as given in the ancient texts, is of course Amareshwara, Amarnath being a name given later to it.
Giving the legend of the Naga Sushruvas, who in his fury burnt to ashes the kingdom of King Nara when he tried to abduct his daughter already married to a Brahmin youth, and after the carnage took his abode in the lake now known as Sheshnag (Kashmiri Sushramnag), Kalahana writes:
“The lake of dazzling whiteness [resembling] a sea of milk (Sheshnag), which he created [for himself as residence] on a far off mountain, is to the present day seen by the people on the pilgrimage to Amareshwara.”(Rajatarangini, Book I v. 267.Translation: M. A. Stein).
This makes it very clear that pilgrims continued to visit the holy Amarnath cave in the 12th century, for Kalhana wrote his chronicle in the years1148-49.
At another place in the Rajatarangini (Book II v. 138), Kalhana says that King Samdhimat Aryaraja (34 BCE-17CE) used to spend “the most delightful Kashmir summer” in worshiping a linga formed of snow “in the regions above the forests”. This too appears to be a reference to the ice linga at Amarnath. There is yet another reference to Amareshwara or Amarnath in the Rajatarangini (Book VII v.183). According to Kalhana, Queen Suryamati, the wife of King Ananta (1028-1063), “granted under her husband’s name agraharas at Amareshwara, and arranged for the consecration of trishulas, banalingas and other [sacred emblems]“.
In his Chronicle of Kashmir, a sequel to Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, Jonaraja relates that that Sultan Zainu’l-abidin (1420-1470) paid a visit to the sacred tirtha of Amarnath while constructing a canal on the left bank of the river Lidder (vv.1232-1234). The canal is now known as Shah Kol.
In the Fourth Chronicle named Rajavalipataka, which was begun by Prjayabhatta and completed by Shuka, there is a clear and detailed reference to the pilgrimage to the sacred site (v.841,vv. 847-849). According to it, in a reply to Akbar’s query about Kashmir Yusuf Khan, the Mughal governor of Kashmir at that time, described among other things the Amarnath Yatra in full detail. His description shows that the not only was the pilgrimage in vogue in Akbar’s time - Akbar annexed Kashmir in 1586 - but the phenomenon of waxing and waning of the ice linga was also well known.
Amareshwar (Amarnath) was a famous pilgrimage place in the time of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan also. In his eulogy of Shah Jahan’s father-in-law Asif Khan, titled “Asaf Vilas”, the famous Sanskrit scholar and aesthete Panditraj Jagannath makes clear mention of Amareshwara (Amarnath) while describing the Mughal garden Nishat laid out by Asif Khan. The King of gods Indra himself, he says, comes here to pay obeisance to Lord Shiva”.
As we well know Francois Bernier, a French physician accompanied Emperor Aurangzeb during his visit to Kashmir in 1663. In his book “Travels in Mughal Empire” he writes while giving an account the places he visited in Kashmir that he was “pursuing journey to a grotto full of wonderful congelations, two days journey from Sangsafed” when he “received intelligence that my Nawab felt very impatient and uneasy on account of my long absence”. The “grotto” he refers to is obviously the Amarnath cave as the editor of the second edition of the English translation of the book, Vincient A. Smith makes clear in his introduction. He writes: “The grotto full of wonderful congelations is the Amarnath cave, where blocks of ice, stalagmites formed by dripping water from the roof are worshipped by many Hindus who resort here as images of Shiva…..”
Another traveler, Vigne, in his book “Travels in Kashmir, Ladakh and Iskardu” writes about the pilgrimage to the sacred spot in detail, clearly mentioning that “the ceremony at the cave of Amarnath takes place on the 15th of the Hindoo month of Sawan” and that “not only Hindoos of every rank and caste can be seen collecting together and traveling up the valley of Liddar towards the celebrated cave……” Vigne visited Kashmir after his return from Ladakh in 1840-41 and published his book in 1842. His book makes it very clear that the Amarnath Yatra drew pilgrims from the whole of India in his time and was undertaken with great enthusiasm.
Again, the great Sikh Guru Arjan Dev is said to have granted land in Amritsar for the ceremonial departure of Chari, the holy mace of Lord Shiva which marks the beginning of the Yatra to the Holy Cave. In 1819, the year in which the Afghan rule came to an end in Kashmir, Pandit Hardas Tiku “founded the Chhawni Anmarnath at Ram Bagh in Srinagar where the Sadhus from the plains assembled and where he gave them free rations for the journey, both ways from his own private resources”, as the noted Kashmiri naturalist Pandit Samsar Chand Kaul has pointed out in his booklet titled “The Mysterious cave of Amarnath”.
Not only this, Amarnath is deeply enshrined in the Kashmiri folklore also as stories like that of Soda Wony clearly show. One can, therefore, conclude without any doubt that the Amaranth Yatra has been going on continuously for centuries along the traditional route of the Lidder valley and not a century and a half affair. May be during the Afghan rule when religious persecution of the Kashmiri Hindus was at its height and they were not allowed to visit their places of worship the pilgrimage was discontinued for about fifty or sixty years and during this period the flock of some shepherd may have strayed into the holy cave, but that in no way makes it of a recent origin or a show window of so-called Kashmiriat.