A Kashmir Pandit activist has written to Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, claiming that the land belonging to a temple in Srinagar has been encroached upon by goons and alleged that they were being supported by a councillor of the ruling party and a police officer.
Sanjay Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti, has written an open letter to the Chief Minister, in which he has claimed that a “commercially high valued” piece of land belonging to a temple in the Bonamsar area of Sonwar locality in the city had been encroached upon.
Tickoo has claimed that the land has been encroached upon by “some goondas” having the support of a “sitting PDP MLC and active support of the Superintendent of Police concerned”.
“The PDP MLC claims that he has purchased the property from an affluent Kashmiri Pandit living somewhere outside Kashmir. Though the property belongs to the temple, some high-profile Kashmiri Pandits from outside the Kashmir valley are using their influence through political parties to crack this illegal deal,” Tickoo claimed.
“When the matter was agitated before the Superintendent of Police concerned to remove the encroachment of the temple property, issued by the Additional Deputy Commissioner vide communication no. DMS/RD-533/Mig/715-17, dated 19-9-2015, he argued that when there is no Kashmiri Pandit population in Kashmir, why did the Kashmiri Pandits need temples and asthapans in the Valley and denied to comply with the directions of the said revenue officer,” he claimed.
