Geelani against making Amarnath RSS hold
Syed Ali Shah Geelani of the Hurriyat Conference (G) condemned the construction underway at the Amarnath cave and raised questions on Shri Amarnath Shrine Boards (SASB) intentions of first extending the during of the yatra from 15 days to 2 months and overruling the State government’s orders and then upholding a Supreme Court ruling of providing infrastructure to the pilgrims which led to people turning up in greater numbers given the free food, accommodation and other facilities offered by Shrine authorities which led to the death of 86 pilgrims. The separatist leader, who hasn’t agreed to compromise on any issue until now pointed out that the 50-fold increase in the number of pilgrims was the root cause of the problem.
SASB is forming a stronghold in the region. A spokesperson from the party raising awareness on the matter said, “ Yatra used to be a religious affair, but in the last two years it has become an instrument of communal and cultural aggression. People from all across India are pushed into Kashmir to scare the local people.” It was also noted the Hindu right wing elements consider it a victory that Hindu pilgrims are able to travel across a Muslim minority area to a place of worship. Syed Geelani demands that the SASB be handed over to Kashmiri Pandits. The J&K chief minister instead offered Geelani a copter ride to the place to see the construction but ducked his question on the loss to the environment at the site. Geelani has refused the offer, with a spokesperson saying the Conference can make it’s own arrangements if the leader’s house-arrest is revoked.