Jammu, March 15 (Scoop News) –: All Parties Migrant Co-ordination Committee (APMCC) while expressing serious concern over delay in tabling the Temples and Shrines bill in the Assembly has demanded involvement of KP leaders in the inquiry commission on temple encroachments in the Vally.
In a statement issued by Publicity Secretary, APMCC Advocate Arun Kandroo said that the leaders of Committee warned the government that without the involvement of KP leaders in the proposed enquiry commission into the encroachments of temples as announced by the Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Raman Bhalla in the Assembly would be farce and rejected by Pandit community.Vinod said that the government has no data on the damage, encroachments and destruction of the temples in Valley which was evident from the fact that despite its RTI application some two months back the government was yet to respond to their demand of providing data.
Statement said that APMCC has written two letters to the Chief Secretary also in this regard but no response has been given to the RTI applications.Expressing serious concern over the matter Arun Kandroo, another leader of the party said that government seems either in deep slumber or misleading the people over the actual position of the temples in the Valley.
APMCCs demand of a white paper on temples and shrine of Kashmiri Pandits in Valley and the involvement of KP leaders in any sort of inquiry commission was a must to build confidence among Pandits regarding their religious properties in the valley.
APMCC also hailed Balwant Singh Mankotia for taking up the issue in the Assembly after APMCC highlighted it in the media.Maintaining that 80% of temples, shrines and holy springs were damaged or encroached in Valley, All Party Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) on Friday said that it was the pressure of land mafia in Valley that prevented the successive governments from tabling the Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious Places (Management and Regulation Bill).
Statement said that the damaged number of temples across the valley was much higher than the admission of the government during the Assembly proceedings recently. He said that it is not only the temples but other allied religious properties of migrants which have either been damaged or encroached by land mafia in connivance with politicians and administration.
There are more than 550 temples in Kashmir including the shrines, religious inns and holy springs and out of which more than four hundred have been damaged and encroached, leaders said and added that the allied properties like cremation grounds, shishu samadian, were transformed into agriculture land.
They said that the five thousand years old heritage of Kashmiri Pandits was at verge of extinction and Government does nothing in this regard and added that his organization was going to organize seminars throughout the country and even abroad to press the demand.
Statement further said that Government has contradicted its own statements as during Assembly session in summer 2009, Government in reaction to a question of Chaman Lal Gupta said that only 103 temples were damaged but during the last years session at Jammu, it stated that 170 temples were damaged which automatically means that the vandalization of temples continued. The number increased by 67 within the period of some months, leaders said.
They said that this not only explodes the myth of the normalcy in Kashmir but also the hallow claims of the government of taking migrants back adding while according to government figures 103 temples were damaged during last two decades but around 67 temples were damaged within last few months which speaks volumes about the seriousness of the government towards Kashmiri migrants.
Statement said either government was telling lies or it must accept that vandalisation of temples has reached to its peak during the last few months.
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