Nine days after Kashmir raised a banner of revolt against the transfer of 39.88 hectares of forestland to SASB, the state government finally “cancelled” the cabinet order.
SRINAGAR: Nine days after Kashmir raised a banner of revolt against the transfer of 39.88 hectares of forestland to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), the state government finally “cancelled” the cabinet order on Tuesday.
The decision was taken at an emergency meeting chaired by chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad after governor NN Vohra, who is also chairman of SASB, gave up claim to the land diverted for raising “pre-fabricated structures for camping purposes of pilgrims”.
After discussing the issue threadbare, the cabinet decided to cancel the controversial order 184-FST diverting forestland at Baltal and Domail to SASB. The land would be now made available to the tourism department for creating facilities for pilgrims.
The cabinet also directed the tourism department to make a budgetary provision for the increasing number of yatris.
The nine-day-long protests, during which four people died and over 300, including 100 policemen, were injured in street fights, were held under the aegis of the action committee against land transfer, an umbrella group floated by the Hurriyat Conference.
There were also protests for the land transfer led by Sangh Parivar outfits.
“For the last several years, there has been peace in Kashmir and we decided to maintain it by revoking the land transfer order. It is not win or defeat of anyone,” transport minister Hakeem Mohammad Yasin said.
The main opposition party National Conference welcomed the decision but said it would not support the Azad-led government when it faces a floor test in the assembly.
The BJP was upset and accused the Congress of joining hands with Islamic fundamentalists.
h_ishfaq@dnaindia.net
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