The Muslim fundamentalists and leaders of mainstream political outfits, like the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), behave like demagogues. They befool people, making the entire situation confusing. The separatist politics has had its devastating effect on the masses. The outcome: The PDP, led by former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayed, and his maverick daughter Mehbooba Mufti, has withdrawn support to the Congress-led coalition Government, just a few months before the six-year-term of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was to expire and fresh elections are due, possibly in October.

Just before he bowed out of office, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, was forced to rescind the land transfer order by the fundamentalists, leading to enhanced violence in the Hindu-dominated Jammu province. Before the new Governor N. N. Vohra—replacing Lt General (Retired) S K Sinha—was just cooling his heels, he as Board Chairman, was asked to give an ‘undertaking’ that the Board had given up its claim on the contentious forest land. The entire state has got divided on communal lines.

The most amusing part of the iridescence of some mainstream parties, including the National Conference, led by Farooq Abdullah; and loquaciousness of the Kashmiri leaders, is how they beguile people and make them believe that transfer of forest land to the Board will lead to ‘demographic aggression’ in the valley. People are being instilled with a fear psychosis that if the Amarnath Shrine Board accomplished the task of creating temporary shelters for the onrush of pilgrims, it will destroy “Muslim majority character” of the state. It is mind-boggling.

The PDP, the National Conference, the separatist Hurriyat Conference and other smaller political groups emerged on a single platform, shoulder-to-shoulder with the die-hard Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani, in demanding revocation of the land transfer. They mislead people that the Shrine Board would use the proposed structures as a housing complex to settle non-Kashmiri Hindus, and it would thereby change the majority Muslim character of the valley, according to their feigned and misconceived notions. Such nauseating utterances can have grave repercussions in the Hindu-dominated region of Jammu.

The history is witness to massive demographic changes in the valley during the past few centuries. Before partition, the population of Kashmiri Hindus was 15 per cent. The Muslim fundamentalists are responsible for hounding out half a million Hindus from the valley at the point of gun in 1990.

The terrain where the temporary structures were meant to be raised is almost barren and rugged. The hills are denuded. Any kind of permanent settlement is impossible, because of inhospitable weather. The area remains snow-bound for nearly eight months.

Some national dailies have quoted the Hurriyat Conference Chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as saying: “This illegal transfer (of nearly 40 hectares of forest land) is a pre-planned conspiracy of the Government to change the demography of the state. India has unleashed cultural aggression on Kashmir through many means.”

This is the height of mediocrity and egoism. The Mirwaiz and his henchmen are suffering from the worst kind of parochialism. In contrast to this kind of xenophobic violence exhibited in the valley during the week till the land transfer order was revoked, there was hardly any murmur when 250 families of Tibetan Muslims (now they have multiplied into several thousand) were settled permanently in Srinagar, in 1959. They were granted Indian citizenship soon after.

A number of these families are engaged in fine embroidery work on Kashmiri carpets. Some have own businesses. Scores of them can be seen selling garments, precious stones, artefacts’, and spices on the pavements in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk. But they still regard Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama as their leader, no doubt their faith is different. Many of the Tibetan Muslims have also settled in Leh, Ladakh. A total of 6700 Tibetan Muslims and Buddhists have been living there, since China’s invasion of Tibet. They are now Indian citizens.

The PDP has blamed the Congress on the land transfer issue. But in fact it was Forest Minister Qazi Afzal and Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Husain Baig (both of them have now resigned following PDP’s withdrawal of support), who had cleared the process of land transfer. But when the secessionists lodged a protest against the land transfer to the Board, the PDP revolted and asked the Chief Minister to rescind the order, in view of the vote bank policy.

The former Ministers had rightly turned down the arguments put forward by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests that the “ uncontrolled flow of pilgrims will cause pollution, which will have some impact on the wildlife, if no mitigating measures are initiated by the Shrine Board ”. His other argument is that the area is habitat of the endangered brown bear, leopard and panthers. One would like to ask him, who is responsible for the annihilation of 2000 to 3000 Kashmir stag (hangul) in Dachigam sanctuary near Srinagar? Once upon a time the world was proud of them. Now only 149 of them remain.

However, it was Baig himself who took the final decision regarding the land transfer. Later he bowed to the wishes of the separatists and cancelled the order. He had in February this year blamed the “fundamentalists in the mainstream political parties” for derailing the move to allow outsiders buy land for infrastructure development in the state. He had then stated that he would ‘go ahead’ with its plan to allow ‘private players’ from outside to buy land in Jammu and Kashmir.

Let me quote him. “Let me dispel the myth that people in other parts of the country cannot buy land in Jammu and Kashmir. There are provisions in our Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir Constitution) by virtue of which non-state subjects can buy land in the state.”

He has also made it clear that “they (private players) can invest in tourism, health, education and industries”. To cap it all, Baig has revealed that such a plan was shelved in 2006 because there were many ‘fundamentalist politicians’ who oppose development of the state. They are scared of militants.

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