Srinagar, Mar 20: The All Parties Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) on Sunday demanded a white paper on the temples and shrines in the Valley to ascertain their exact number and condition. 
 The Committee also accused the Government of failing to provide basic facilities to the Kashmiri Pandits who recently returned back.
 During a press conference here, the APMCC leaders also demanded a CBI probe into the “encroachment” of nearly 500 temples in the Valley allegedly by some leaders and activists of mainstream parties in collusion with the land mafia and threatened to go on hunger strike if the Government fails to take action in the matter.
 “We demand a white paper on the temples and shrines of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. We want to maintain that inquiry into the involvement of Kashmiri Pandit leaders in the probe is must to build confidence among the Pandits regarding the religious properties in the Valley,” they said.
  “Over the years, 80 percent of over 600 temples, shrines and holy springs have been encroached by leaders and activists of mainstream parties, unscrupulous Pandit leaders in collusion with the land mafia. And the Government has been acting as a mute spectator to the grave issue,” the National Coordinator of APMCC, Manorama Bakshi, told reporters here. 
 On the occasion, the chairman of APMCC, Vinod Pandit alleged that the pressure from land mafia and “influential” mainstream parties, prevented the successive regimes from tabling the Kashmiri Hindu Shrines and Religious Places (Management and Regulation Bill) in the Assembly. 
 “We give two months to the Government to order a CBI probe into the matter on the pattern of fake encounter killings of civilians in Ganderbal and Shopian incident. However, if the Government does not accept our demand, we will go on a hunger strike in Lal Chowk," said Vinod who was flanked by the Committee’s general secretary, Arun Kandroo.
 They said the Government does not have any data regarding the destruction or encroachment of the temples. “It is evident from the letters and RTI applications filed by us to the Chief Secretary and Divisional Commissioner. Despite passing of two months, the officials are yet to respond to the RTI.
 The Pandit leaders also demanded reopening of the Shaarda Temple across the LoC. “When the Government facilitates the trade between Muzaffarabad and Jammu and Kashmir, why is it stopping the Kashmiri Pandits from paying obeisance at the Shaarda Temple through LoC,” Vinod said.   
 They also flayed the State Government's rehabilitation policy for the migrant Kashmiri Pandits terming it as a "joke". “The families which have returned to the Valley are living in a pathetic condition. We recently visited the migrant quarters at Vessu and Sheikhpora. Four families are living in a single room and there is no basic infrastructure available. The accommodation is insufficient particularly for married people with children,” Bakshi said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 20 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 IST