Omar takes Mughal path

- CM in a hurry to add to Kashmir’s links with country

Mughal Road (Jammu and Kashmir), Nov. 28: The Mughal emperors’ dirt track to “paradise”, which resounded with hoof beats centuries ago, saw history repeat itself when Omar Abdullah led a caravan of vehicles down the medieval road.

The chief minister, himself at the wheel of his silver-colored vehicle, drove along the 84km stretch of the famed Mughal Road from Shopian in Kashmir to Bafliaz in Jammu on Thursday, leading the first ever motorcade on the road that is being made motorable.

The work is expected to be complete next year but Omar is in a hurry, ostensibly to recreate an aura of the Mughal era and provide Kashmir with an alternative road link to the rest of the country.

In 1586, Akbar’s army had swept up this road to conquer Kashmir, defeating Yousuf Shah Chek. Soon after, the emperor was on his way to the Valley leading a huge caravan of horses, chariots and elephants.

When his son Jahangir, who called Kashmir “paradise on earth”, fell ill at Achabal in the Valley, he was carried along this road towards Delhi but died at Chingus in Rajouri, says historian Fida Hassnain.

For centuries, the Mughal emperors kept heading to Kashmir on this route, traversing the mighty Pir Panjal mountains, before it lost its importance in the 19th century when better roads came up.

When it becomes motorable, Mughal Road will provide an alternative highway to Srinagar from Jammu, although around 55km longer than the existing 300km Jammu-Srinagar highway. But it will provide Srinagar with a direct link to Rajouri and Poonch, shortening the current 500km drive by two-thirds.

The lakhs of Gujjars who migrate to the plains of Kashmir every summer with their cattle will now have a motorable road for the first time.

The Shopian-Bafliaz stretch criss-crosses ranges 11,500ft to 130,000ft high, running past pine groves, lush meadows and gushing streams. Adding to the natural beauty are the monuments the Mughals built at places like Aliabad.

Omar braved the winter chill and snow to cross to the other side of the Pir Panjal late on Thursday night.

“The dream of Sheikh sahib (Omar’s grandfather Sheikh Abdullah) has been realized at last. I hope the road will be complete next year,” Omar told a gathering at Dubjan, around 11km from Shopian, before completing the journey by driving all the way to Jammu past historical sites such as Aliabad, Pir Ki Gali, Bafliaz.

He allowed a few cameramen to board his vehicle so they could capture the key moments of his trip.

“I got an opportunity not only to drive but to complete this road. However, it would not have been possible without the Center's support. It will be a four-hour journey from Srinagar. It is going to benefit people from both sides, particularly the pilgrims who want to visit the famous shrine of Shahdara Sharief in Rajouri,” he said.

“This was a medieval road and lost its significance when Kashmir got its first cart road -— Jehlum Valley (JV) road —in the 19th century, connecting the Valley with Muzaffarabad on to Punjab. It was later made motorable in 1890,” said Hassnain, the historian.

The Dogra rulers later built a cart road from Jammu to Srinagar and after Independence, a tunnel was dug at Banihal, making it an all-weather road.

Work on the new Mughal Road started in 1969 but very little was accomplished till 2005. The road was seen as a danger to national integration by some, who sniffed a ploy to create a “greater Kashmir” by directly connecting the Valley with Muslim-majority Rajouri and Poonch.

Officials said such people created obstacles but the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government restarted the work, which was pursued with vigor by his successors Ghulam Nabi Azad and Omar.

Some Rs 640 crore has been spent on the project since 2005. The road is seven meters wide. Single-laning is complete while only 3-4km of double-laning is left. Of the 423 RCC slab culverts planned, 128 have been built and 60 others are under construction. The road has 21 minor permanent bridges.

Source: Telegraph India.
Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091129/jsp/nation/story_11798422.jsp.