STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: An organisation of the Kashmiri Pandit community on Friday accused the president of the Dharmarth trust of trying to create division amongst the members of the displaced community.
“We deplore the attempts of the president Dharmarth aimed at dividing the Hindus of Kashmir into Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri. The Hindus of Kashmir are united in their effort to establish a democratic and transparent control of all the temples and shrines in Kashmir Valley to stop their sale and use for the personal purposes,” R L Bhat, spokesman of the Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust said.
He claimed that the Dharmarth Trust has violated Maharaja Gulab Singh’s order and sold land attached to different temples under its supervision.
“It is the sale of the temple heritage of Kashmir, by the Dharmarth and other personal trusts which forced the Hindus of Kashmir to demand the enactment of the Shrine Bill to provide for a democratic and accountable management” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Dharmarth Trust had accused a section of Kashmiri Pandits for raising the bogey of Hindu shrines in the Valley and made it clear that the Hindu shrines present in Kashmir Valley were not the personal property of Kashmiri Pandits and lakhs of devotees around the globe visit these temples.
Hitting out on senior Congress leader Dr Karan Singh, who is also the chairman trustee of the Dharmarth Trust, Shri Ram Sena, today alleged that the Trust properties have been changed into business hubs and asked Singh to clear his stand.
In a statement issued here, state Sena president Rajiv Mahajan alleged that once there was a parking place for about 100 vehicles at basement of Karan Market in Jammu, which is sold out by the Dharmarth Trust to some influential businessmen of the city.
Mahajan also claimed that a Yoga Centre in the Karan Market is also being converted into a hotel in violation of norms. He asked Commissioner JMC to come up with a public statement on illegal constructions and change of status of public utility places into commercial complexes at an earliest to clear the uncertainty brewing up in the minds of general public. He also demanded an inquiry against Dharmarth Trust for changing the status of the land and property in violation of norms, thus depriving the general public of their legitimate rights.
