Public outrage forces govt to withdraw tender notice

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 22

Even as the J&K State Cable Car Corporation (JKSCCC) cancelled its controversial tender notice after the uproar over “renaming” of the historic Bahu Fort, the state government is yet to clarify its position on the change in nomenclature of the fort to Shahabad Station.

The issue, however, continued to draw political and public outrage with various groups accusing the BJP of “being hand-in-glove with its ruling ally, PDP, for establishing a sectarian homogeneity in the entire state”.

Following protests and uproar on Tuesday, the JKSCCC issued an order cancelling its notice inviting tenders till further notification.

The state government and the Tourism Department, which is the nodal agency for executing the cable car project, preferred to maintain silence on the issue and is yet to clarify its position.

The Corporation, in a notice issued on March 17, had invited tenders for the construction of a wall. It had named the Bahu Fort area as Shahabad Station of cable project in the notice.

Harsh Dev Singh, chairman of the Panthers Party, said “It is highly reprehensible and unacceptable that J&K Tourism Department has despicably changed the nomenclature of the cable car project”.

“The subsequent withdrawal of the tender notification yesterday will not suffice until and unless the project is restored to its original name. The clandestine change of the nomenclature of Jammu’s cable car project has not only endorsed the communal ideology of the secessionists but also desecrated the holy shrines of Lord Shiva and Goddess Mahakali after whom the ropeway had been named,” Singh said.

Lalit Sharma, Director of the UK-based Voice of Dogras Organisation, in his message to The Tribune, said “Jammu, the refugee capital of the state, needs to protect its cultural identity. The earliest historical link recorded to the Bahu Fort is that of Raja Jambu Lochan of the Jammu dynasty. The fort is also home to Jammu’s presiding deity, ‘Bawe Wali Mata’. Jammu needs to stand in solidarity against this change of name from Bahu Fort to Shahabad Station. Bahu Fort it is, Bahu Fort it will be!”

Hari Om, a Jammu-based analyst, said “By renaming our ancient Bahu Fort, the PDP-BJP government has not only outraged the religious sensitivities of the Hindus across India, but has also taken yet another step towards Islamisation of Hindu-majority Jammu. The BJP has been betraying Jammu’s historic mandate and humiliating Hindus by becoming a party to acts being committed by Mehbooba Mufti to convert Jammu into Kashmir”.

Activists of the Dogra Front, led by its president Ashok Gupta, staged a protest against the alleged “objectionable” name given to cable car project and raised slogans against the state government.

“This is really a matter of great concern that the cable project has been named after a street. This move is nothing but a provocative attempt to hurt the religious sentiments of Jammuites,” Gupta said.

When contacted, Shamim Ahmed, Managing Director of JKSCCC, said “We have cancelled the tender notice and I don’t want to go into political issues. We are committed to the commissioning of Jammu ropeway project by March 2018. It is Bahu Fort ropeway project.”