Srinagar, July 09 (KNO): Criticizing the government for imposing ban on civilian movement along highway in view of Amarnath Yatra, Awami National Conference (ANC) senior vice president Muzzafar Shah Tuesday said the party will file Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court in case the highway ban is not revoked.
The ANC leader while talking to reporters in Srinagar as per a statement issued to KNO said that people of Kashmir have always welcomed the Amarnath yatries here but in return the government is pushing them to the walls. “Lord Shiva chose a Kashmiri Muslim Buta Malik of Batkote Pahalgam to inform the Hindu Community about his abode in Kashmir when He & Maa Parvati guided Buta Malik to the Holy Amarnath Cave in 1850. It was a Kashmiri Muslim whom the Lord Shiva trusted to show his cave to the world and it is the same Kashmiri Muslim who is being very ill-treated by the powers to be,” Shah said.
He questioned the wisdom of the Central Govt, in particular the Home Minister Amit Shah, his security and intelligence apparatus and J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik for ordering harsh measures of restrictions in movement on millions of people for the 46 days Yatra period. “Do remember Amit Shah & Governor Malik that the Kashmiri Muslims have been welcoming Yatris and carrying them on their shoulders safely since centuries for the Holy Darshan of the Lord Shiva. Is this how you repay them by making them a suspect in the eyes of the HinduBrethren? What a Pity!,” he added.
Muzzafar Shah further stated that by such actions of the Central and the State authorities, not only the common man on the road is suffering along with his family but it is the entire Tourism and the Horticulture sector, the back bone of the economy of the state that is suffering humongous loses due to such ill advised decision. “The tourist in Kashmir today is facing the same problem as is the common Kashmiri. Prime Minister Narender Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Governor Satya Pal Malik will have to compensate the losses of Tourism and the Horticulture sector for such decisions that too in the peak of the tourist season,” he said.
If such decision are not reversed and the common people along with the forces made responsible for smooth conduct as well as smooth conduct of the tourist season, which has been Kashmir’s culture since centuries, then it would be better to close all schools, business establishments, the entire tourist sector for the 46 days Yatra period .There is havoc on the roads, Psychological effect and wide depression on children, ANC Sr. Vice President said. ANC will not hesitate to go for PIL in the Supreme Court in this situation, he added.(KNO)