Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Aug 18: Despite the reservations shown by various organizations, the State Government is fully determined to put the much talked about Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Temples Bill to vote in Autumn Session of State Assembly to be held in Summer Capital in the last week of this month.
This was confirmed by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mir Saifullah while talking to Excelsior today. Mir Saifullah who is also the chairman of the Joint Select Committee (JSC) of Legislature which is presently scrutinizing the Bill said he has convened the JSC meeting tomorrow afternoon and it will be held at any cost.
When his attention was drawn to threat given by Yoga Guru Ram Dev regarding passage of the Bill in present form, the Minister said that Yoga Guru has no locus standi to interfere in the affairs of the State and dictate terms on its passage.
It may be recalled that the Shrines Bill was marred by controversy from the first day it was introduced in Assembly over six years back with various parties opposing its passage.
The Bill was sent to Joint Select Committee (JSC) of both the Houses State Legislature during last budget session when it came for voting in State Assembly after some BJP, NPP and Congress Legislators opposed its passage in the House.
However BJP is going to adopt a soft approach on the Bill this time and Party will suggest some amendments in the Bill but not oppose its passage, said Prof Garu Ram, MLA, R S Pura who is also the Member of JSC.
He said the Party will not oppose the passage of Bill but suggest certain amendments in it.
According to highly placed official sources, the Government is trying to evolve a consensus on the issue in the Select Committee which is to meet at Srinagar tomorrow and in this regard hectic parlays are on from Government side to prevail upon members of Committee from all parties to reach a consensus so that the Bill is passed in the Autumn Session of the Legislature.
Sources said Joint Select Committee is slated to meet tomorrow and all its members have been intimated in this regard by the Government to attend the meeting.
Admitting that the Government will put the Bill to vote Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mir Saif-Ullah who is also the chairman of the JSC said that his Party is committed to passage of the Bill and he had already made a commitment with the Pandit leaders in this regard.
However he said that he will try to bring a consensus in the JSC meeting on the issue so that the ground can be prepared for the passage of the Bill in the Legislature.
He said his Party will also persuade Congress party to seek its support regarding passage of the Bill in the House.
It may be recalled that while suggesting that the Bill be handed over to Joint Select Committee of the State Legislature after some BJP and Congress members opposed its passage in the House during last budget session, Minister of Irrigation, Flood Control and PHE Sham Lal Sharma had said that there is a member of the KP community in the Upper House and he too may be included as the member of the Committee to scrutinize the Bill.
However later Mr Bakaya was included as Special invitee to JSC. The other members of the JSC included as Mohammed Sharief Niaz, Surjit Singh Salathia, M Y Tarigami, Abdul Rehman Veeri, Rashpaul Singh, Prof Garu Ram Bhagat, Charanjit Singh, Yash Paul Kundal and Indu Pawar from Lower House. Khalid Najib Suharwarthy, Dr Bashir Ahmed Veeri, Sham Lal Bhagat and Yashpal Sharma form Upper House.
The Bill was at the centre of controversy after the Dharmarth Trust and other Trusts who manage various temples and shrines in the Valley demanded that their shrines and temples be not brought under its purview and they be allowed to continue as they are.
In their argument these trusts have made it clear that they are functioning normally and continued to function normally during the period when militancy was on peak and hence they should not be disturbed and their bodies disbanded.
But the KP bodies including Pt Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust (PNBMT) spearheading the ongoing movement for passage of the Bill are demanding that all shrines including those lying under the control of Dharmarth Trust be brought in the purview of the Shrine Board for their proper management and protection.
The Trust has also shown its concern over the grabbing and encroachment of land of Hindu shrines in Valley and illegal sale deeds made by various unscrupulous agencies on the shrines land.
Maintaining that the Shrines and temples of Kashmir are the age old heritage centres linked to thousands years of cultural history of Kashmir, PNBMT said that their preservation and proper management was must for the posterity and hence the passage of Shrines and Temples Bill was in the overall interests of the people.
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