As Jammu and Kashmir prepares for an assembly election, both politics and the government are heading towards a polarisation along communal lines. The reason is the government’s dangerous policy of bringing major religious bodies within state control, apparently to ensure transparency in their functioning. But they are actually turning into extra-constitutional entities with no legislative oversight.

The takeover of these religious bodies was done through legislations: Vaishno Devi Shrine Board was set up in 1986, Amarnath in 2000, J&K Muslim Waqf Board in 2003. According to the law, the governor, if Hindu, will be the chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, in ex officio capacity. The Muslim Waqf Board is led by the chief minister, if Muslim. The move to bring religious bodies within the domain of the Raj Bhavan and chief minister’s office improved pilgrims’ facilities but has dangerous political ramifications.

The controversy began when Governor Lt Gen (retd) S.K. Sinha decided to extend the annual Amarnath yatra from the traditional one-month pilgrimage to two months in 2004. The then chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, declined, citing an additional burden on the state machinery, besides the weather. The issue threatened to assume a communal and regional dimension as four Congress ministers from Jammu resigned. The Congress’s entire Jammu leadership, along with the BJP, openly supported the governor. Interestingly, the Congress’s Kashmir unit and the members of cabinet from the Valley remained silent. The crisis subsided only after the Centre intervened, but the bitterness continued to trouble the relations between the elected state government and Raj Bhavan.

... contd.