This is an article by India’s leading Journalist B.G. Verghese. He responds to criticism voiced through a section of media of a report by a team of the Press Council of India regarding the alleged attacks on Hindu temples by Muslim freedom fighters of Jammu and Kashmir. The report had refuted allegations by RSS men and others that several Hindu temples had been damaged. Varghese’s article and the circumstance surrounding it should make the admirers of Indian democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere sit up to think. Verghese is lucky to voice his views through a section of the Indian media Most other dissenters are not so lucky.

Editor WSN.

Kashmir temples unharmed

By B.G. Verghese

My article ‘Temple in Kashmir’ (May 8) has evoked responses from Mr S.P. Ambasba Mr Somnath Dhar and Mr Randhir Jain who variously describe it as an unabashed apologia for fundamentalism in Kashmir the guesswork of an armchair intellectual belonging to the so called secular brigade as i had not myself visited Kashmir to ascertain the facts or otherwise inaccurate.

I have since been to Kashmir and can say on the basis of personal investigation on the spot that the facts given in my article were absolutely correct. As stated I went by a list given to me by a Senior RSS associated leader of temples burned and damaged in Kashmir by ‘terrorists’ in 1990. Of those in Srinagar the statement said the Ganpatyar temple had been demolished and the Dashmani temple and dharmashala burnt. To this Mr Somnath Dhar added that PTI had just reported a rocket attack on Mata Khir Bhawani Mandir.

I visited all these shrines perhaps the three most famous in Kashmir in the company of some others. All are perfectly safe. At Ganpatyar the Pujari Mr Mohan Lal Tiloo said that daily worship had continued uninterrupted in this 200-yr-old Hanuman mandir though the number of worshippers had greatly declined with the migration of pandits from that neighborhood where they were heavily concentrated. There is a CRPF picket within the precincts and itis this that attracted fire in December 1990 January 1991 and again on May 3. There have also been two bomb blasts. But the Pujari and other pandits present were categorical in stating that it was the CRPF and not the temple that had been targeted a view with which the CRPF personnel concurred.

The Dashmani Akhara at Buds haw Chowk in the heart of Srinagar house the chadi which is ceremonially taken out at the commencement of the annual Amaranth Yatra. Here again the CRPF picket located within the Akhara compound has been targeted by militants. Two attacks took place outside the gate and we visited the shrine a few days after a bomb had been thrown into the compound on May 19. There has been no damage to the temple or dharmashala through some bullet marks are visible on the outer gate. The manager of this  Amareshwar Mahadev Mandir which is controlled by the Sri Mahant Mahadev Giri Trust. Mr Pooran Shah. Also reported regular worship though by small numbers. He too was emphatic that it was the CRPF picket and not the Akhara that had been attacked although the shrine is dominated by the ancestral home of the JKLF leader Yash Malik.

Indeed the manager like the Ganpatyar Mandir Pujarj denied knowledge of any temple in Srinagar having been destroyed. At Ganpatyar which is on of the banks of the Jhelum local pandits pointed to at least four other major temples within sight on either bank which were totally unguarded but which had not been attacked by anybody thus confirming the view that it is the location of security forces in temple premises that makes them targets. Among the temples pointed out were the gilthead Gadadhar mandir in the old secretariat compound the Miliyar Shiv Mandir and the Kateshwar Shiv Mandir.

We also drove 22 miles to Tulmulla village via Ganderbal the site of the ancient Shri Rajeshwari Shri Khir Bhiwani Ji Mandir  which though rebuilt in 1912 traces its origin to epic times. This is a major pilgrim center and Tumulla village largely depends on visitors.

The spacious grounds and dharmashala of the Khir Bhawani Ji Mandir are occupied by the CRPF This security picket experienced a rocket attack on April 4 1991 which chipped some concrete off the outer gate about 200 meters or more from the shrine. It again came under small arms fire on May 4. Bullet marks can be seen on some of the outer structures. The temple as such and the holy spring guarding it have not only remained unharmed but have been who   beyond the range of fire by a considerable margin.

Incidentally most Muslim villagers have held demonstrations protesting against the attacks.

It has been asked why the J & K administration has not denied the alleged destruction of temples. The fact is that such allegations are heard in Jammu and Delhi not in the valley where the facts are well known Moreover the names of the temples allegedly destroyed or desecrated are not mentioned and hence it is difficult to rebut vague whispering campaigns according to official sources who were contacted in Srinagar. More appropriately in future those who claim destruction of temples in Kashmir would do well to refer specific allegations to the J & K government for verification The tehsildar Srinagar has inspected some of the major temples in the city and has reported finding them unharmed.

The policy of locating security forces inside or in very close proximity to temples and other shrines needs to be reviewed. On the one hand certain groups including associations of migrant pandits have sought protection for temples On the other the location of security forces makes their a target of attack with the risk of collateral damage which has fortunately been avoided thus far.

Those are the facts. There is little doubt that rumor and motivated allegations have been circulated by interested parties and that these have served to accentuate communal tensions and suspicions in the country. This mischievous campaign is not religious but political and that is that is the tragedy and the danger.

Article extracted from this publication >> June 21, 1991