Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 12: Even as the Government said today that it would do its best to take up The Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious Places (Management and Regulation) Bill, 2009 in upcoming autumn session of the Legislature after incorporating objections and suggestions the Select Committee has invited from the stakeholders, the chances of a further delay can’t be ruled out in the absence of a broader consensus.
Meanwhile, all Deputy Commissioners of 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley have submitted a detailed report to the Select Committee mentioning total number of religious places of Hindu minorities existing in their districts, the land and property in their possession and damage caused to some of them during over two decades long militancy.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir, who heads the Select Committee, constituted by Speaker Mubarak Gul after budget session of the Legislature here in April this year to have a fresh look on the legislation, that had been pending in the Assembly since 2009 after its introduction, told the Excelsior that he would try his best to get the Select Committee report submitted in autumn session of the Legislature beginning September 30.
“It would be my endeavour to get the bill through in next meeting of the Select Committee after objections and suggestions were obtained by putting the bill on the official website of the Divisional Commissioners for its introduction in the autumn session, which would start on September 30 and adjourn on October 8,’’ Saifullah said.
He added that the Select Committee that met under his chairmanship a couple of days back in Srinagar has decided to put the bill on official website of the Divisional Commissioners for 10 days to invite objections and suggestions from all stakeholders so that a best possible legislation was introduced in the Legislature and passed.
Official sources, however, said the Select Committee has delayed its decision to invite objections and suggestions on the bill. The 10 days time for inviting suggestions followed by compiling them and again convening a Select Committee meeting to evolve a consensus could consume a lot of time and it might not be possible for the Committee to report back to the House during the autumn session.
But, Saifullah Mir has insisted that the Select Committee would do its best to submit its report in the upcoming session. The Select Committee comprised Prof Chaman Lal Gupta (BJP rebel), Sheikh Mustafa Kamaal and Mohammad Yasin Shah (NC), Abdul Rehman Veeri (PDP), Harshdev Singh (NPP), Ashwani Sharma (JSM), M Y Tarigami (CPM) and Hakim Mohammad Yasin (PDF).
Sources said there were different views before the Select Committee on the bill. While some of the political parties, social and religious organisations were of the view that all temples and shrines across the Valley should be incorporated in the bill for the purpose of management and regulation while another view was that the shrines managed by Dharamarth Trust, Sanatan Dharam Sabha and Barha Akhara should be excluded.
Yet another viewpoint that has emerged during the meeting was the objection to use of word ‘Kashmiri Hindus’ in the bill on the ground that Hindu can’t be divided into Kashmiri, Jammu or Punjabi and only the word The Hindu Shrines and Religious Places should be used in the legislation.
Meanwhile, all Deputy Commissioners of 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley, where the religious places of Hindu minorities were located, have submitted a detailed report to the Select Committee on the number of shrines in their districts, the organisations and individuals manning them, the property in their possession, encroachment on the land of religious places, if any and damage caused to some of them.
While most of the Deputy Commissioners, in their reports, have maintained that there had been no encroachment on land and property of the religious places, they have admitted damage caused to some of the shrine over the period of two decades of militancy.
It may be mentioned here that the Kashmiri Hindu Shrine and Religious Places (Management and Regulation) Bill, 2009 was intruded in the Assembly in 2009 soon after National Conference-Congress Government took over the reign of affairs in the State.
However, the bill remained pending in the Assembly as the Government didn’t move it for consideration and discussion for four years. It was during budget session of the Assembly in 2013 that it was taken up for consideration and passing on last day of the session i.e. April 5, 2013.
However, Congress and NC MLAs had proposed that the bill should be referred to the Select Committee. The suggestion was agreed upon and the bill is now lying with the Select Committee.
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