Govt ‘allows’ wrestling event at graveyard

Muslims from Bal Jogiyaa in Bishnah Monday hit streets against the district administration’s move to allow holding of Dangal (wrestling) at a local graveyard.

Hundreds of Muslims, mostly Gujjars, assembled outside Divisional Commissioner’s Office here and raised slogans against the district administration.

The protesters accused the administration of provoking them by allowing Dangal Management Committee to hold annual Shinj (wrestling match) at a local graveyard. A protester Dil Muhammad said the land on which the ‘Dangal’ was permitted belongs to Muslim community. “It’s a graveyard,” he said.

He said in 2014 also, the situation turned ugly when the event was allowed at the same place. The administration was then forced to impose curfew. “Muslims of Jammu have time and again urged the government not to take suchdecisions on sensitive issues in haste and maintain communal harmony in the state,” Dil said.

The protesters met Divisional Commissioner, Pawan Kotwal, who assured them that he will personally look into the issue.

GEELANI CONDEMNS

Local news agency KNS reported that Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani strongly condemned “occupation of 150-year-old Muslims graveyard land of Bagh Jogian village in Bishnah tehsil of Jammu district by ‘goons’ of RSS and starting of ‘Dangal’ (a sports activity) there.”

Geelani cautioned if “anti-Muslim activities” in Jammu division are not stopped, the Muslims of the Valley will not remain silent.

“They Kashmiri Muslims will not leave their Jammu brethren to suffer at the hands of the communal and fascist forces,” he said in a statement to KNS while raising questions over the role of the police with regard to the Bishnah incident.

“Instead of providing justice to Muslims, the police high command is covertly helping the RSS goons in their acts due to which the Muslim population of the area are feeling very unsafe. A process of anti-Muslim activities has been started in every Muslim locality from Kishtwar to Ramban, Udhampur, and Poonch,” Geelani alleged. “Besides the activists and workers of RSS, BJP and Shiv Sena, the armed VDC terrorists are harassing Muslims everywhere in Jammu division and they are being forced for another mass migration.”