Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 29: Demanding immediate passage of a bill that would enable setting up of a body to manage Hindu shrines in Kashmir Valley, the displaced Kashmiri Pandits held a protest march at Muthi near here, today.
The march in support of the Kashmiri Hindu Temples and Shrines Bill, now pending before the State Assembly, was organised by the Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust, the nodal agency seeking its quick passage.
The protesters raised slogans against the delay in the passage of the Bill as they passed through various areas of Muthi to express their resentment.
A spokesman for the Trust said that they were planning to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to obtain their support for the Bill.
“There is a regular Wakf to look after Muslim shrines and Gurdwara Prabandhak Board to take care of the Sikh shrines, but the Hindu shrines and temples in the Valley are without any organised body to look after them,” said Trust spokesman Dr RL Bhat.
He said that although everybody from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah to the leaders of all the political parties had expressed support for the Bill, it was important that they translated their words into action.
The Trust also held a public meeting at Geeta Bhawan Muthi in which besides the residents of the area, the community leaders H N Jattu, president AIKPC, Bhushan Lal Bhat president JKVM, Dr R L Bhat, spokesperson of the Trust, H L Bhat, M K Raina, president Jawala Ji Samiti Khrew, along with his executive body participated. The meeting was chaired by Dr A N Pandita, chairman of the Trust.
They demanded Temples and Shrines Bill lying with Select Committee be presented in the House and passed immediately.
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