B.L. Saraf
In the latest Apex Committee meeting of the Kashmiri migrants ,the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced that his Government will soon promulgate ordinance for the protection and care of Kashmiri Hindu shrines and religious places. He asked his Revenue Minister to prepare a draft document in this regard so that it could be placed in the next cabinet meeting for approval . For the Hindu community of the State, in general, and that of Kashmir, in particular , the announcement is reassuring that its religious and spiritual place will be safe and the sign posts of Valley’s ancient civilization will receive adequate protection , to ward of threats of the prowling land mafia . These religious places are inextricably linked with the physical and spiritual existence of every Hindu who lives in the Valley. They are his defining land marks. Some of these places have been mapped by the UNESCO as part of the universal heritage. Therefore , this announcement of Omar Abdullah is a welcome development. Undoubtedly , he and his cabinet colleagues deserve our gratitude.
The unfortunate events of the last two decades have , besides traumatizing the displaced community , played havoc with its religious places . They became victims of weather and the human greed .Te raison detr’e of the law has been very well delineated by the Aims and Objects of the Bill No11/2009 , pending consideration before the Assembly, wherein it was introduced by the present Government ” …Due to the disturbed conditions in the Kashmir Valley in 1990 ,the majority of the Hindus left the Valley and Shrines remained unattended. There are complaints that properties of these shrines have been encroached up on .” This weighed with the then leader of the opposition and present Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather and made him introduce a private member’s bill in the previous Assembly. The bill was withdrawn on the assurance of then CM Gulam Nabi Azad that his Government would bring the necessary bill on its own . That, however , didn’t happen . The present government brought the bill . Though same got stuck in the Assembly, for the reasons not required to be mentioned here .
Experience has taught us that the religious places which have a statutory control are well managed and have become focal points to attract religious tourism , opening up lot of employment opportunities. Waqaf boards for Muslim Shrines , Prabandhak committees for management of Sikh Gurdwaras and Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine board provide shining examples in this regard . Ten million pilgrims paid obeisance to Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in the previous year . Imagine ! how much revenue it must have generated for the state . Similar can be the case with the well managed Hindu Shrines in Kashmir , given the breath taking locale and archeological value of some of them. We understand that whenever a reformatory step is contemplated it does impinge upon the vested interests of some one , somewhere. It was so in case of Mata Vaishno Devi enactment and it is being so experienced in case of the law under discussion here. It was the total commitment of the government, in1986, which cleared the way for law for Mata Vaishno Devi. Thankfully, we are seeing same kind of political will developing in favour of Kashmiri Hindu Shrines law as well.
It is understandable that some body or an organization may have a case to seek exemption from the sweep of the proposed law. We do appreciate that a democratic and responsive government has a duty to ensure that no section of the populace is harmed by its action .Precisely to avoid such a situation from arising , the Bill has enough provisions in it to take care of genuine interests of all concerned. It is not that the temples and religious places in Kashmir will ,ipso facto , fall under the purview of the law , as soon as it is promulgated . Cl ;1 ( a) of the Bill says that only those religious places and shrines will be administered , managed and regulated by the Board , created by the proposed Act , which are notified under Cl ; 5 of the Bill. They will be notified only after objections , if any , of any body or an organization are disposed of by the Special Officer-who will be a Class 1st Officer of the State Governmen. Before that, in order to notify the religious places under Cl 5 , a detailed enquiry and investigation has to be held by the Special Officer under Cl 4 of the Bill , regarding any claim of any kind laid by any person or a body. The Special Officer has been invested with powers of a Civil Court to decide the matter before him .In no case are his orders final in the matte. An aggrieved party has a right of appeal before the territorial District Judge, under Sub -Cl ( 5) of Cl 4 of the Bill .We hope , the Government will keep these facts in view while promulgating the ordinance . Care has to be taken that the proposed law does not get diluted as to make it ineffective in the real sense of term . Or, that the Hindu community is perpetually is caught in unnecessary litigation which might become unavoidable if the scheme and structure of Bill No11 /2009 is disturbed . There is need to ensure that the remedy does not become worse than the disease .
(The author is former Principal District & Sessions Judge )
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