SRINAGAR: Syed Ali Shah Geelani , known separatist leader and the head of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference , on Wednesday, in a meeting attended by many independent Muslim groups and a few splinter ones, termed the Amarnath Yatra as a "cultural invasion" and blamed the government of India for using the holy pilgrimage as a means to extend its cultural invasion and impose its ideology on Kashmiris.

The Wednesday meeting was not impromptu and was planned well in advance with invites being sent in advance and the agenda spelled out. Ayaz Akbar, Geelani’s spokesman, said in a statement that Amarnath Yatra and cultural invasion among other things were discussed in the meeting.

Geelani had earlier said that he would launch an agitation after Eid in case authorities fail to stop the construction of a concrete road leading to the Amarnath cave in the Himalayas in south Kashmir, disband Amarnath shrine board and limit the number of pilgrims besides curtailing the time period of the pilgrimage to 15 days instead of two months.

"A committee of five members headed by the general secretary APHC Nabil Sumji was constituted to look into the matter comprehensively. The report will be subjected to study and a seminar is scheduled on the 10th of November," Ayaz Akbar added.

The spokesman quoting Geelani said, "It is the present system and the people in authority that are playing mischievous politics under the garb of Amaranth Yatra and extending their game plan. They are allowing more and more pilgrims and disturbing not only the geo-political scenario but are badly-damaging the local culture, environment, and forests."

The J&K government was aware of the plans of Geelani and on a day full of developments on different fronts it conducted an aerial survey of the Baltal-Amarnath Holy Cave route to counter Geelani.

A select group of journalists was flown by the state government under the orders of J&K IG Police in a helicopter on the Baltal-Panjtarni-Holy Cave route for a first-hand account of the condition of the track leading to the 3,880-metre high cave. There were no changes in the route from Baltal to the Cave Shrine. No construction material could be detected even when the helicopter flew very low.

In another development, an 11-member civil society delegation led by journalist Seema Mustafa met the Chairman of the moderate faction of APHC Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at the Hurriyat headquarters.

The important civil society group of Centre for Policy Analysis (CPA) is a balanced group with representations from all relevant areas. Mirwaiz emphasized that the impeding solution of the Kashmir problem was the reason behind all that ails the region. Custodial killings, disappearances, and the issue of mass graves have cropped in Jammu and Kashmir and Mirwaiz said that the unbridled power vested with the troops due to AFSPA gives them impunity. He said as a result they can’t be held accountable.

