Srinagar: Disputed Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, Farooq Abdullah, who is a minister in Indian government are involved in war of words with senior Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani over the re-opening of cinema halls and liquor shops in the region.
On Monday, Farooq Abdullah had called for opening of liquor shops and cinema halls in the valley. “More entertainment avenues should be provided to tourists visiting Kashmir,” he had said.
His comment drew strong reaction from senior Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani, who urged ulemas to issue fatwa (edict) against Farooq for demanding opening of liquor shops and cinema halls in the Valley.
“Islam declares liquor as the mother of all evils and orders punishment against those who consume it. Advocating opening of liquor shops in Muslim majority state speaks of the mental apostasy of Farooq who despite his old age retains his mischievous character,” Geelani had said on Tuesday.
Reacting to his state Farooq said today, “Geelani must know J&K is a secular state. It is not an Islamic state. It is a liberal democratic country”.
He said he would continue to advocate development of necessary infrastructure for the growth of tourism in Kashmir.
He said if Kashmir wants to grow, the state must develop its infrastructure. “…if Kashmir wants to grow as far as tourism is concerned, all those things that are necessary for getting more tourists to come, we must grow our infrastructure in our state…. be it cinema or other things,” the minister said.
Geelani today demanded a complete ban on alcohol in Kashmir. “We demand a total ban on alcohol. We appeal to all right-thinking people to hold peaceful protests in favour of the demand after Friday prayers,” he said.
The ailing separatist leader said the protests would be a message to the people in power that “we will not tolerate propagation of this voice in our society.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah backed his father Farooq Abdullah on the issue.
In his latest tweet posted today, Omar said: “Given that cable TV providers show all the movies that would come to cinemas & some that don’t 😉 will Geelani ask us to ban cable now?”
In another tweet, he said, “I would be interested to know how many Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) member countries (including Pakistan & Bangladesh) allow cinemas to function in their countries.”
The cinema halls and liquor shops in Kashmir were closed after the eruption of militancy in the region in 1989. Although the government tried to re-open the cinema halls by providing money to the owners of the theatres, however the lukewarm response has forced cinema hall owners to shut their establishments.
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