multi-core temple land scam in j&k

In Srinagar, Kashmiri pandits are seeking government intervention to deal with what they claim to be a multi-crore temple land scam.

The police have been trying to restrain Kashmiri pandits from entering the Ramji Temple in Srinagar, allegedly on the instructions of its management.

The pandits say that since the temple trusts have not had elections over the last 17 years, caretakers and outsiders have been controlling temple assets, worth Rs 10,000 crore, and are now selling or leasing them out.

“Some of the trustees and other samitis which are from our community and some non-locals state subject holders try to grab these properties, and it is still going on. The buyers are naturally from the majority community,” alleges Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti President Sanjay Tickoo.

Community leaders are now seeking the intervention of the country's highest offices. Tickoo claims the property transfer is being done with the help of local officials. The samiti even has letters to the Prime Minister displaying the contentious lease details.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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NC leader displayed his talent by singing his favourite film songs

If Farooq Abdullah is known for his political plainspeak, the NC patron’s love for music is also not hidden from all. On Wednesday, guests at a Diwali Milan function were in for a surprise when the patron of the National Conference once again displayed his talent by singing his favourite film songs.

From the late Mohammad Rafi to Pakistan’s famous ghazal singer Farida Khanam, the former chief minister enthralled the audience with ghazals and some old Hindi film songs.
When Abdullah senior was reminded by his party leaders of his other engagements, the prompt response was Aaj Jane Ki Zidd Na Karo, Yuon Hi Pehlu Mein Behte Raho¿ The function was organised by National Conference legislator and managing director of Take 1, a local news channel, Devinder Rana.

Farooq, who had been inactive in state politics after his party’s debacle in the 2002 Assembly polls, has returned to the political centrestage in the last few months. He has declared his intention to lead the party as its chief ministerial candidate in the next Assembly elections.

Courtesy:indianexpress,com
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Hurriyat is willing to participate in the polls.

As mainstream parties in Kashmir gear up for the 2008 Assembly Elections, separatists outfits in the valley too seem mellowing their stance.

In an exclusive interview Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Mirwaiz Umer Farooq has hinted that the Hurriyat is willing to participate in the polls.

“If India and Pakistan are able to get people involved and some sort of an understanding is reached whether it is a four-point formula or whether its self governance and other ideas if they are accepted if they are addressed and even if an interim solution is discussed, Hurriyat has always said that we are never scared to go into elections.” Says

But at the moment, the Hurriyat plans to boycott the polls as usual.
“As far as the present structure is concerned there is no scope for the Hurriyat in it,” says Farooq. And it is after a long silence the Hurriyat Conference has pitched in with an idea.
“Certainly constitutionally and legally we can have a position as it existed before 1953, I have no doubt in my mind,” says Constitutional Expert, Zafar Sha
.
Hurriyat points out that the state already enjoys a special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.

Courtesy:ibnlive.com
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Kashmiri Pandits celebrate Dusshera in Sringaar

Srinagar, October 22: Hundreds of chanting Hindus burnt a huge effigy of a demon king to mark one of their biggest festivals for the first time in Kashmir since Muslim militants launched a revolt 18 years ago. The celebrations late on Sunday came at the end of the nine-day Dusshera festival, which celebrates god-king Ram's victory over the mythological demon-king Ravana, symbolising the triumph of good over evil.

Although the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley is home to about 10,000 Hindus, they had stopped celebrating Dusshera in the open due to fear of Islamist militants who targeted the community after the anti-India insurgency erupted in 1989.

But with militant violence falling to an all-time low this year, more than 400 Hindus, also known as Kashmiri Pandits, marched through the streets of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, and burned Ravana's effigy in a highly guarded cricket stadium.

"Kashmiri Pandits living in the valley have been totally ignored by the world community," said a statement from the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation representing Hindus in the valley.
"We decided to start the age-old traditions and religious functions to mark our presence," it said.
More than 250,000 Pandits fled Kashmir after the insurgency broke out in 1989, in what officials say was the biggest migration since the subcontinent was divided into mainly Hindu India and Islamic Pakistan in 1947.
Many of them live in filthy refugee camps or in poor residential areas in northern Indian cities, still struggling to rebuild their lives.

Courtesy:Kashmirlive.com
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