Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 10: The J&K Government’s purported decision of renaming Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) as Kashmir International Convention Centre, has invited sharp criticism from National Conference and other political parties.
National Conference decried the measure of dropping the name of Sher-e-Kashmir from SKICC, saying the move is reflective of contempt the present Government nurtures for Kashmir’s true representative voices and their leadership. NC Member of Parliament, Muhammad Akbar Lone said the name of important institutions in J&K christened after Sher-e-Kashmir had a concurrence and attestation from then duly elected legislature of the State. “Naming the important icons in J&K after Sher-e-Kashmir represented a collective will of people, who through their chosen representatives named important institutions and land marks after Sheikh Sahib as a mark of acknowledgement of his struggle for the restoration of people’s rights,” he said.
“The move of dropping Sheikh Sahibs name from important landmarks reveals the new low the present ruling dispensation is stooping to. Such steps can in no way belittle his immense contribution towards the sociopolitical emancipation of the people of Kashmir. His contribution is inscribed on the hearts of each and every Kashmiri, who regardless of such moves will continue to draw inspiration from his life and struggle. People know who salvaged the generations of Kashmir from the shackles of feudalism and oligarchy,” he said.
President of Jammu Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari said that by changing names of landmarks, the priorities of the Government seem less rapt about the day-to-day difficulties faced by the people especially the unemployed youth of Jammu and Kashmir. “It is highly unfortunate that the present dispensation in Union Territory of J&K has started indulging in selective tokenism, with its administration not able to grapple with the complexities and challenges of governance,” he remarked and alleged that instead of focussing on public welfare measures and addressing issues of basic amnesties, the Government has resorted to kind of chicanery in order to cover up for its ineptitude and mal-governance.
“Rather than expending on renaming the sign boards of buildings, historical roads and tunnels, the Government could have explored the means to release pending salaries of daily wagers in Jammu and Kashmir and providing jobs to unemployed youth,” he observed.
Former Union Minister and Ex PCC chief Prof Saidfuddin Soz has said that the current administration is an intermediary arrangement before elections and therefore, it has no authority to change names of public places.
“We the people of Kashmir never changed the names of old institutions, Roads etc as these happened to be part of our history. So, Hari Parbat, Jogi Lankar, Amar Singh College, Sri Pratap College, SMHS Hospital, Vishwa Bharti College, Gandhi Memorial College and dozens of other titles of institutions have continued to be the same,” he said in a statement, issued here today.
CPI (M) has said that Sher-e-Kashmir is not just a title but a glorious chapter of history in Jammu and Kashmir. “We might have a difference with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah but that doesn’t mean we should undermine his and his colleagues’ historic role which they played right from their advent on the political scene,” said a spokesperson of the party.
“The BJP is known to have a grudge against the Quit Kashmir movement and want to rewrite the history but it is not easy to erase the historic contribution of our people and the leadership,” the spokesperson said and added that it remains a duty for all secular democratic forces to raise their voice at every level against such unconstitutional act.
NC Minority and Legal Cell has also expressed dismay over the Government’s purported move and said that nixing the name Sher-e-Kashmir from important icons and landmarks of Jammu & Kashmir is contemptuous and reflective of sordid witch-hunt aimed to belittle contribution of the tallest and respected leader of sub-continent.
In a meeting of the Cell, the leaders said such christening of icons and landmarks after Sheikh Sahib’s name represented a collective will of people, who through their chosen representatives named important institutions and land marks after Sheikh Sahib as a mark of acknowledgement of his struggle for the restoration of people’s rights.
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