[Reader-list] No Jain temple burnt in Kashmir

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

Don't trust The Times of India. Trust Shujaat Bukhari. Or else you will be
treated as a communal. I guess his house was under raid during Amarnath
agitation along with some PDP leaders. Police was searching for separatists.


Well, No Jain Temple. Only 600 Hindu Temples destroyed.

Ah! Just 600. Forget it yaar. Why bother?

Perhaps that is where stone-pelter mobs get their weapon. Destroy temple,
get stones. Transport them to main street corners. Simple!

I heard 80 Shia familes have moved out of Kashmir in last two months. Sorry,
I should already take it as my imagination. Sane voice has no place. Nothing
doing!

-- 
Aditya Raj Kaul

India Editor
The Indian, Australia

Web: http://activistsdiary.blogspot.com/

On Sat, Aug 28, 2010 at 7:22 PM, we wi <dhatr1i at yahoo.com> wrote:

> from Ghori...Aurangazeb to now there is no change,ruining ruining ruining
> whether it is religion, temple,scholary, place,asset or whatever.
>
> --- On Sat, 8/28/10, SJabbar <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: SJabbar <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] No Jain temple burnt in Kashmir
> To: "Sarai" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Saturday, August 28, 2010, 2:13 PM
>
> From The Hindu
>
>
>
> No Jain temple was burnt in Kashmir: officials
>
> Shujaat Bukhari
> SRINAGAR: The temporary structure housing a Jain temple in a local hotel
> was
> not burnt by a mob but was dismantled as a local hotel's contract with a
> Mumbai-based travel agency which built the structure on its premises has
> not
> been renewed.
>
> In the wake of reports in newspapers around India that the only Jain temple
> in Kashmir had been burnt by mobs leading the ongoing protests in the
> Valley, hotel and State officials told The Hindu that no such incident had
> taken place.
>
> According to Ghulam Mohiuddin, manager of Silver Star Hotel in Lasjan on
> the
> outskirts of Srinagar, the temporary structure was built as per contract
> with Gem Tours and Travels, a Mumbai-based travel agency, which wanted to
> provide a place where Jain tourists from other parts of India could worship
> while visiting Kashmir.
>
> ³But the three-year contract ended and was not extended, so the structure
> was also dismantled,² he said. The temple was established to attract Jain
> tourists. ³As the situation in the Valley worsened and the tourist inflow
> declined, the contract was not renewed and we thought there is no need for
> this,² he added. The 8x8 pre-fabricated structure was dismantled in the
> presence of the priest, Hans Raj, on August 10.
>
> Mr. Mohiuddin categorically denied that the temple was burnt or destroyed
> by
> a mob. ³This is just not true. It is a fact that a large mob passed through
> this area also but no one entered our premises so the question of touching
> the temple does not arise,² he told The Hindu. Before the hotel management
> decided to remove the structure, the owners of the travel agency were
> contacted through the priest Hans Raj, who hails from Uttar Pradesh. ³The
> idols were removed and properly handed over to them when they arrived in
> Srinagar the next day,² he said, adding the rumours seemed to be a
> conspiracy to spread hatred against Kashmiris.
>
> Deputy Commissioner (Srinagar) Meraj Kakroo also rubbished reports about
> the
> Jain temple being attacked. ³The report about the burning of the temple is
> baseless and mischievous,² he said. He added that no proper temple existed
> and ³as per our information, it was an internal arrangement made by the
> hotel owners.²
>
> Members of the community said there is, in fact, no Jain temple in Kashmir.
> While there were 40-odd Jain families living in the Valley prior to
> militancy, only five have stayed back. ³There is no Jain temple here,
> though
> a family has set up one in their house,² Amit Jain, a businessman, said.
>
> Repeated attempts by this correspondent to get a response from Gem Tours
> and
> Travels drew a blank. However, a local news portal, Kashmir Dispatch,
> reported that a team from the Doshi family, which built the temple, flew in
> to Srinagar the day after it was dismantled. ³They packed the idols in
> cardboard boxes and returned to Sabarmati,² it said. ³It was not burnt and
> [the newspaper which said it was] will come out with a corrigendum,² the
> portal quoted Jyotin Doshi, Chairman of Gem Tours, as saying. ³The
> structure
> was broken; we don't know by whom, we had a contract with the hotel for
> five
> years under which the temple was built on the hotel property,² he said.
>
> ³We don't want to create enmity and request everybody to stop thinking
> about
> the matter. We have now installed the idols in Ahmedabad and there is
> nothing more I can say on this,² the portal quoted Mr. Doshi as saying.
>
>
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