JAMMU: Silently but sinisterly Kashmir is being made out of bounds for non-Muslims while avenues are created to make Jammu second home for endless non-Hindus. Being done in a systematic manner and on multiple planks, the agenda continues to be surgically executed by all shades of opinion, the so-called Kashmiri mainstreamists and the separatists. Divergent they may appear ideologically but convergent they are to change the cultural foundations of Jammu.
As part of the strategy, Kashmir has almost been radicalised, not only ideologically but historically as well. The nomenclature of the 2,500-year old Jyesteshwara Shiva Temple, commonly known as Shankracharaya atop the hillock near Dal Lake has now summarily been renamed as Takht-e-Suleiman. Similarly, the famous Hari Parbhat hill is being called as Koh-e-Maran. Such is the connivance at official level that the State Tourism Department had officialised Koh-e-Maran in an advertisement on Kashmir Fort Festival in May last year. Srinagar is gradually being rechristened as Shehar-e-Khas though the process is so far restricted to the old city only. Srinagar is perhaps uncomfortable for many with radical mindset because of its origin, drawn from folk etymology, according to which the city name comprises two Sanskrit words: ?r? (“glory, prosperity”, a name for the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi) and nagar (“city”), which would make “City of Lakshmi” (or, “City of Prosperity”).However, the earliest records mention the name as siri-nagar which in turn is a local transformation of the original Sanskrit name s?rya-nagar, meaning “City of Sun” (or, of Sun God), according to M. Monier Monier-Williams, “?r?nagar”, in: The Great Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1899. For decades now, Anantnag is being known as Islamabad and during one of the Assembly sessions in March 2016, a top BJP stalwart, now in a different role in the Legislative Assembly read Anantnag as Islamabd making obituary reference of former legislator Abdul Salam Deva. Not only this, on 1st May 2016 the State BJP President Sat Sharma addressed his maiden rally in Anantnag, but the official press release of the party referred to the south Kashmir district as Islamabad. The BJP statement was issued with an ‘Anantnag/Islamabad’ dateline even though Anantnag is the official name of this district.
The BJP owes answers to its core constituency as to what steps have been taken since its partnership in the government to treat the growing cancerous intolerance by Wahabi elements in the Valley. Like Jammu, the Valley too has to be secular. Jammu has never shown intolerance over a locality in Janipur given the name of Ramzanpura and another one as Hyderabad; in Bathandi area some localities being named as Firdousabad and Jalalabad, and a colony in Narwal area given the name of Qasim Nagar.
The historical distortions apart, concerted efforts are on to shrink the space for non-Muslims in the Valley. Has anybody ever bothered to know why Kashmir agitations and stone-pelting Intifaada gains momentum immediately after the spring and not during the winters? Unfortunately, for some years now, such anti-national activities take place around the time tourist season begins and preparations for the annual Amarnath Yatra begins.
These are some of the numerous machinations being unleashed to make the Valley out of bound and open up vistas of opportunities beyond Banihal Tunnel, which is seldom being referred as Jawahar Tunnel.
In 2015 spring, a hope had rekindled about wrongs, committed over the years and decades, being undone with the BJP making maiden inroads in the Jammu and Kashmir Government. Basing its politics on discrimination with Jammu, the saffron party, however, began with making compromises from day one when gratitude was expressed to separatists, secessionists and Pakistan for smooth conduct of polls that put the PDP and BJP into cradle of power. It was believed that the BJP will seek review of security related expenditure, borne by the poor Indian tax payer, which is generally spent on concessions to chronic separatists and comforts of the so-called mainstreamists, many of whom miss no occasion to belittle the nation.
Has the BJP ever sought to know during the past 22 months how many political activists have been provided government accommodation in Jammu and why? They (which mostly include lower rung workers) are not supposed to carry out political process in this region and if they are, then how many similar activists from Jammu enjoy such facilities in Srinagar)?
The BJP should have also got to know how many scribes and newspaper organisations from Jammu have been allotted government spaces and accommodation in Srinagar for professional pursuits compared to their counterparts from the Valley in Jammu. (To be continued)