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The Wire
30-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
What Amit Shah's Amarnath Yatra Security Meeting Says About Who Controls Law and Order in J&K
Support independent journalism. Donate Now This is the third time this year that the elected chief minister has been left out of Centre-led security-related deliberations in his own Union territory. In this image via MHA on May 29, 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah with J&K LG Manoj Sinha chairs high-level meeting to review preparations for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra in Jammu. Photo: MHA via PTI. Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute Now Srinagar: Despite calls for Jammu and Kashmir's elected government to be taken into confidence on matters of law and order, Union home minister Amit Shah on May 29 chaired a high-level security meeting in Jammu with lieutenant governor (LG) Manoj Sinha. Shah and Sinha reviewed security and other arrangements for the upcoming Amarnath Yatra which will commence in Kashmir from July 3 under the shadow of the Pahalgam massacre. Photos shared by Shah on X, formerly Twitter, showed that the chief minister Omar Abdullah was not among those who attended the high-level meeting which included the J&K LG, top officials of the Union home ministry, various security forces and intelligence agencies. Under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which the Union government used to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories in 2019, law and order is the domain of the LG, who is a nominee of the Union government, while J&K's elected government has no control on the issue. However, the terrorist attack in Pahalgam had prompted fresh concerns on the sidelining of the democratically elected government in J&K and calls were issued saying that the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Union government should take the Abdullah-led government on board on security-related matters. Shah said that security forces were directed 'to maintain the utmost vigilance and ensure the seamless completion of the sacred journey' undertaken by hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims to the Amarnath cave which is located at 3,888 meters or 12,756 feet above sea level in Lidder valley. 'Central govt and J&K administration will leave no stone unturned to facilitate the pilgrims with all necessary facilities,' he said on X in the post on Thursday. This is the third time this year that the BJP government has acted in a way that reflects that it wants full and exclusive control over law and order in J&K while the elected chief minister has been left out of security-related deliberations in his own Union territory. Last month, Abdullah left a high-level meeting chaired by Shah in Srinagar when the issue of security came up for discussion even as J&K chief secretary and director general of police had stayed back and attended the meeting. In February, Sinha also kept Abdullah out of a security meeting held at the police control room in Srinagar, prompting outrage from the ruling National Conference who have accused the Union government and the Raj Bhawan of undermining the chief minister's office. According to political observers, the Pahalgam attack may have also shadowed the Abdullah government's efforts for the restoration of J&K's statehood which would effectively hand the charge of Unified Command, J&K's highest decision-making body on security matters, to the chief minister's office. The worst terrorist attack on tourists in J&K on April 22 this year prompted allegations of intelligence failure and abdication of responsibility and accountability by the prime minister Narendra Modi government and J&K administration led by Sinha. The opposition INDIA bloc is likely to push for a special session of parliament to discuss the attack and subsequent developments, including Operation Sindoor while as the BJP-led Union government has fanned out multi-party delegations to dozens of countries to convey India's collective resolve in the aftermath of the military conflict with Pakistan. 'A strange arrangement' On May 28, Abdullah chaired an extraordinary cabinet meeting in Pahalgam to encourage locals and domestic tourists to visit Kashmir. After the meeting, Abdullah discussed the measures to revive the tourism sector with the industry stakeholders and locals. During a press interaction, Abdullah took a veiled dig at the Union government over the security situation in J&K. Asked whether his government intended to raise the issue of security in J&K with the Union government, Abdullah pointed to the multiplicity of power centres in J&K. 'We (in J&K) have a strange arrangement. Tourists are my responsibility but the security of tourists is not my responsibility. Here three governments will have to work together – the elected government of J&K, the unelected government of J&K and the government of India,' Abdullah, who is also J&K's tourism minister, said. During the meeting in Jammu, Shah, who is visiting the Union territory for the second time after the terrorist attack in Baisaran meadow, was briefed by the security forces and J&K's civil administration about the measures being put in place to ensure a safe and hassle-free pilgrimage. According to reports, additional companies of central paramilitary forces are being deployed to secure the twin routes to the holy cave. The meeting also reportedly discussed the plans for the gradual reopening of tourist destinations in Kashmir which were closed for tourists as a security measure in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack. A sense of fear spawned by the carnage in Pahalgam followed by the closure of 48 tourist destinations and the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan has caused a massive slump in J&K's tourism sector which had recorded significant growth over the last three years. One of the two approach routes to the Amarnath cave which houses an ice stalagmite, believed to be the symbol of the deity Shiva, passes through Pahalgam where four to five terrorists segregated 25 Hindu men and killed them in cold blood in front of their families on April 22 this year. A local Kashmiri Muslim, who worked as a pony attender, was also shot dead when he tried to stop one of the terrorists from firing at the tourists. Politics What Amit Shah's Amarnath Yatra Security Meeting Says About Who Controls Law and Oder in J&K View More
Hindustan Times
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
‘Last opportunity': SC warns govt on Aravalli definition
The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed serious concern over continuing illegal mining in the Aravalli hills and gave the Centre a final two-month deadline to arrive at a common definition of the ecologically crucial mountain ranges. A bench headed by chief justice Bhushan R Gavai told a Centre-led committee that it had already missed its original deadline of July 2024 and gave it a 'last opportunity' to complete the task, with no further extensions. The matter has been listed for hearing in July. 'The order is of May 9, 2024. Meanwhile, the states must tell us what action you are taking to ensure illegal mining does not take place,' said the bench, which also comprised justice AG Masih. Senior advocate K Parmeshwar, assisting the court as amicus curiae, painted a grim picture of the situation. 'There is rampant illegal mining going on in Aravalli hills. The regulatory mechanism is messed up. If the states had any interest to protect the Aravalli hills, they should have come out with the report by now.' The committee, comprising the Union environment ministry secretary, forest department secretaries from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and representatives of the Forest Survey of India, Geological Survey of India and Central Empowered Committee, has sought extensions three times since the original two-month deadline laid down through the May 9, 2024 order. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said the committee had held joint meetings and the report was in its 'last leg of preparations.' The need for a uniform definition arose after the Central Empowered Committee submitted a report showing how the Aravalli hills are either undefined or defined in ways that facilitate illegal mining. A glaring example is Rajasthan's definition that includes only hills above 100 metres as part of the Aravallis, enabling mining activities between 0-99 metres. The court had earlier criticised this '100-metre rule' as very problematic, remarking: 'If the area does not have the support of slopes, the land will become barren. What is the purpose of having some structure as Aravalli with other slopes all ruined.' A 2018 Forest Survey of India report revealed that 31 hillocks had disappeared due to rampant illegal mining, while over 3,000 illegal mining sites were discovered across the Aravallis in Rajasthan and Haryana. The court also addressed applications from miners seeking lease renewals. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, representing marble producers in Rajasthan, said their leases had expired in March and the state had refused renewals citing the May 9 order. 'We are in favour of the report being produced at the earliest. But till then, our livelihoods have stopped,' Singh said. The court clarified that restrictions applied only to new licences, not renewals, and directed states to respond to the miners' applications. Parmeshwar suggested that once the definition is finalised, individual mining applications should consider the carrying capacity of the entire Aravalli range for the next 50-100 years. He also recommended enforcing a ban across the entire range and ensuring no new mining leases are granted. The Aravalli range serves as a crucial climate barrier, blocking eastward winds from the Thar desert and preventing Delhi from experiencing dry, arid conditions. The Supreme Court had banned mining activities across the entire Aravalli region in Haryana and Rajasthan in 2002 after Central Empowered Committee reports indicated that illegal mining had consumed 25% of the range. The court has previously indicated that a balance must be struck between sustainable development and environmental protection.
Time of India
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Goyal: Permanent surveillance post will tackle threats to Malwani mangroves
Mumbai: A permanent surveillance post and a CCTV monitoring system will soon be set up at the T-junction in Marve, Malad, to prevent encroachments in mangrove areas, said Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal . A close watch through CCTV cameras and observation posts will be maintained on the debris mafia, and a special campaign will be launched for this purpose, he said. The civic body and the forest department have jointly initiated concrete measures, he added. In Malad's Malwani, around 8 hectare of mangroves is under threat as some groups are allegedly attempting to make unauthorised changes to the land and construct illegal slums by cutting mangroves and dumping debris. This has raised serious concerns about environmental balance, prompting urgent action, said Goyal, who is also the MP for Mumbai North constituency, which covers updates on encroachments are being collected through satellite imaging and mapping, and this data is shared with the relevant departments to facilitate necessary action. The administration is also planning to undertake a detailed survey of mangroves to find ways to preserve them. Goyal expressed hope that this Centre-led campaign will serve as a model to curb encroachments in this environmentally sensitive region. tnn
