Army abandons plan to defuse religious crisis in Kashmir

Srinagar, Jun 5 (UNI) A religious controversy sparked off by an Army plan to reconstruct and renovate mosques and shrines in Jammu and Kashmir under its 'Operation Sadhbhavna' was finally set at rest after the military decided to abandon its ''goodwill'' campaign.

The Army plan had ignited a widespread anger among the Muslim clerics who threatened to launch mass agitation across the troubled state if the move was not immediately shelved.

A top cleric of Jammu and Kashmir even issued a 'fatwa (decree)', calling upon the Muslims to resist the move ''tooth and nail''.

Under its 'Operation Sadhbhavna', the Army had launched a massive exercise to renovate and reconstruct Muslim shrines and mosques across the state to win the ''hearts and minds of the people''.

So far, about Rs 55 lakh had been spent on construction and renovation of eleven shrines, including that of Ayatollah Aga Syed Mehdi at Budgam, over the past three years in the Kashmir valley.

This shrine was renovated at a cost of Rs 18 lakh.

However, the Army yesterday decided to abandon the ''goodwill'' plan, thus setting at rest a major religious issue, which had almost reached a boiling point.

''We will not undertake anything, which hurts the sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Whatever has been done by the Army was in good faith and on the request of the locals,'' XV Corps General Officer-in-Commanding (GOC) Lt Gen A S Sekhon told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Ganderbal, about 25 km from here.

He said the Army was a secular organisation and the campaign was aimed at winning the ''hearts and minds'' of the people.

''We are secular and apolitical. We have no hidden agenda and got people from all faiths. We have full respect for all faith. It has never been our intention to interfere in the religious affairs of the people of the state,'' Gen Sekhon added.

However, he said the Army's primary duty was to safeguard the borders and ensure security of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

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