June 6, 2008

The recent stand of Congress and its other Muslim political allies on Amarnath Shrine land transfer issue has further augmented the fact that Hindus of Jammu & Kashmir are regarded as second class citizens.

Muslim dominated political forces, both mainstream and separatists, in their crusade to make Jammu & Kashmir an Islamic state have joined hands to work against Hindus.

The perfect example of it is the hue and cry raised in Muslim dominated Kashmir region over the allotment of 40 hectares of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which till now was managing the annual pilgrimage to the Hindu holy cave shrine in south Kashmir. The responsibility of managing the yatra has been taken over by the state government since June 29, 2008. Prior to SASB’s formation in 2000, it was the government that was wholly responsible for making arrangements for the pilgrimage.

Kathmandu, July 9: The Nepal Maoists, who played
a key role in abolishing the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy and turning
the country into a secular state, have vowed to ensure special rights
to the minority Muslim community in the Himalayan nation.

“It is not enough to provide equal rights to the
Muslims but they should be given special rights as compensation for
having been suppressed,” CPN-Maoist Chairman Prachanda told a gathering
of the Muslim Mukti Morcha (MMM), an organisation affiliated to the
party of the former rebels.

Prachanda’s support for special rights for the
Muslims is seen as an attempt to garner the sympathy of the minority
community, which mainly resides in the Terai-plains bordering India
where the Maoists suffered setbacks in the April Constituent Assembly
polls.