Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 2: Pt. Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust (PPNBMT) representatives while reiterating their demand regarding passage of much talked about Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Temples Bill today said that since the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1989-90 the Hindu temples and shrines are facing imminent threat to their existence.
These temples and shrines which are religious monuments and symbols of thousands years of Hindu culture and civilization in Valley need immediate protection and preservation for the posterity, Dr A N Pandita the senior most representative of the Trust along with M K Jalali, a social activist, Shiban Khaibri, present chairman of the Trust, Shadi Lal, its general secretary and Sundri Lal secretary told reporters here, today.
They said some of these shrines and temples have faced historical vicissitudes, demolitions, re-erections but even their ruins and debris were utilized elsewhere and over hundreds of years they have been standing in grandeur and splendid greatness. Following forcible exodus of KPs there have been innumerable instances of damages inflicted to and wanton encroachments of many temples, shrines, cremation grounds Shishu Samadhis in Kashmir Valley, they added.
They said the State Government itself admitted on April , 9, last year that nearly 208 temples had been completely destroyed in various acts of vandalism. But this number is grossly understated, they added.
Strongly advocating for protection of these symbols of faith and heritage, they demanded enactment of a law at par with and similar in purpose as the Waqf Board Act for Muslims and Gurudwara Prabhandak Act for Sikhs in the State.
They said that entire community is supporting the demand regarding early passage of Temples and Shrines Bill which is pending since 2007 with the Government and pursued vigorously by the Trust since 2012. The Bill taking the shape of an Act would prove as a catalyst of protection from encroachment or any other illegal interference of any form to these temples in the Valley, they added.
They said that Government should understand and realize the sensitivity of the issue as passage of the Bill will act as major Confidence Building Measure (CBM) in the community whose sentiments and emotions are totally attached to these heritage centers.
They said that the community can’t helplessly continue to watch such symbols of the ancient heritage in Kashmir, spread across the length and breadth of Valley, subjected to continuous encroachments, usurpation, tampering with revenue records and others acts of organized vandalism.
They said that in most cases the State Government was also found involved in disturbing the hitherto existing status of many temples and shrines by constructing roads and other structures. They Appealed the Government to remorsefully realize the heaps of injustice meted out to the original inhabitants of Valley who are internally displaced and hounded out of their homes and hearths of thousands years of connect.
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