SRINAGAR, INDIA // Hindus in Kashmir ended a two-month-old protest today after the government agreed to temporarily allow pilgrims use of land near an important Hindu temple. The land dispute triggered the worst violence in the region in a decade.
India's Jammu-Kashmir state government has agreed to allow nearly 99 acres of land to be used by Hindu pilgrims for accommodation each year, when hundreds of thousands flock to the Amarnath shrine in the predominantly Muslim state. Under an agreement signed today, the title of the land will remain with the government, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The crisis began in June when Muslims launched protests over the government's plan to transfer ownership of the land to the Hindu temple. The proposal was quickly scrapped, however, when Kashmiri Muslims began demonstrating against the move.
Unrest has rocked the Himalayan region since, leaving more than 40 people dead, many killed by soldiers who opened fire on Muslim protesters who later began demanding an end to Indian rule over the region.
"We have suspended our agitation," said Leela Karan Sharma, a leader of the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, a group that spearheaded Hindu protests.
No immediate comment was available from Kashmiri Muslim leaders, most of whom have been arrested by Indian authorities since the demonstrations began.
The land near the temple will be set aside for exclusive use by Hindu pilgrims. Authorities at the shrine will be allowed to build facilities to house Hindus during the annual pilgrimage that lasts up to three months, Mr Karan said.
Hindus danced jubilantly in the streets of Jammu, the winter capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, after the decision was announced.
Authorities, meanwhile, imposed a curfew in the state's Hindu-majority areas of Jammu, Udhampur and Kathua, apparently to prevent any Hindu-Muslim clashes in response to the government's move.
Kashmir has been divided between Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan since 1947, when the two fought their first war over the region in the aftermath of Britain's bloody partition of the subcontinent.
Both countries claim Kashmir in its entirety. Islamic insurgents took up arms in 1989 hoping to win independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan. The fighting has killed an estimated 68,000 people.
* AP
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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