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Historians, politicians contest LG’s ‘first to visit downtown Srinagar’ claim
Historians and senior politicians said neither Ellahi Bagh was downtown nor Old City, nor was his claim true
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday inaugurated an indoor sports stadium in city outskirts Ellahi Bagh with an anecdotal claim that it was for the “first time in 75 years that any head of the state visited downtown Srinagar.”
Historians and senior politicians trashed Sinha’s statement saying neither Ellahi Bagh was downtown nor Old City, nor was his claim true.
LG Sinha, according to an official statement, inaugurated the Ellahi Bagh Indoor Sports Stadium, constructed at a cost of ₹4 crore under PMDP saying ‘Shahr-e-Khas (or Old City) area has evolved as a hub of sporting activities.’
“I was told by local people that it was for the first time in 75 years that any head of the state visited downtown Srinagar. They said many areas were known for the wrong reasons. But, I believe downtown Srinagar has shed its past and it is now a new address of Indian sporting heroes,” he said.
Srinagar’s Shahr-e-Khas, which was the actual capital of ancient Kashmir before its expansion in recent history, has also been the hub of separatist politics and then militancy since it started in Kashmir in 1989.
Senior National Conference leader Ali Mohammad Sagar said that Sinha was not right in claiming that no head of the government had visited downtown in the past 75 years.
In August 2018, then Governor N.N. Vohra had toured Downtown Srinagar and visited various places, including Jamia Masjid, Naqashband Sahib and Dastgeer Sahib shrines. During his visit, he reviewed the pace of developmental works at various locations and also took stock Eid preparations besides meeting groups of civil society members and business persons.
“Firstly, Elahi Bagh is not downtown and secondly, if we agree for argument’s sake, still he is not the first head of government to visit Shahr-e-Khas. We have been visiting Old City in the thick of militancy since 1996,” said Sagar, 62, who has remained law minister and rural development minister.
“Dr Farooq Abdullah (three times chief minister of J&K) used to visit Rajouri Kadal, Islamia School or different shrines in Old City including Makhdoom Sahib which forms the core of downtown. In 1997, during Farooq sahib’s inauguration of Fateh Kadal, militants attacked with eight rifle grenades. Omar Abdullah inaugurated Zaina Kadal and also Bulbul Lankar Shrine where he also addressed a gathering – that is after 2010,” Sagar said.
“Yes, there was militancy and fear was there and visits used to be limited but I think all chief ministers have visited downtown. LG sahib has received a wrong brief and he needs to come clear on it,” he said.
In December 2015, former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed also carried out a tour of downtown including the historic Jamia Masjid at Nowhatta and the shrines of Khanqah-e-Muala, Hazrat Bilal Rumi (RA) and Tomb of Gani Kashmiri at Rajouri Kadal and announced various developmental projects. After his visit to Nawhatta, stone-pelting youth had clashed with security forces.
Shahr-e-Khas (now downtown or Old City) has remained the capital of Kashmir for hundreds of years and it has been the centre of all major political and religious events in Kashmir, particularly in the past 100 years.
Historians say that it was established on the banks of River Jhelum and extended around the seven bridges in the area with peripheries at Nowpora on one side and Eidgah and Nowshera on the other side.
Elahi Bagh is considered a suburb and has not been a part of downtown.
“Elahi Bagh is a suburban area. It is in the periphery. With the expansion of municipal areas of the city, it has now come under Srinagar limits. We can’t say downtown is beyond Nowshera,” said Farooq Fayaz, who retired as a history professor from Kashmir University.
