NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, Aug 1:
Delegations of Kashmiri Pandit organisations today met Union Minister Jitendra Singh seeking the Centre’s intervention in allowing a pilgrimage to Kounsarnag Lake in South Kashmir, a day after locals had protested against the event.
Kashmiri Pandit community, including All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC) and Kashmiri Samiti, accused Jammu and Kashmir Government of cancelling the permission for the pilgrimage but the State administration claimed no such permission had been given.
The recent act of first granting permission for Kaunsarnag lake and later withdrawing it after protests from separatist groups like Hurriyat Conference “has hurt the sentiments of Hindus in general and Kashmiri Pandits in particular, APMCC claimed in statement after meeting Singh.
Singh, after meeting various delegations, said “it is our considered belief that there should be least amount of interference from Government in the matter of faith. On the contrary, the Government should rather try to facilitate such pilgrimages.”
Regretting that a message had gone that the Yatra had been cancelled under pressure on extraneous considerations or pressures, Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, said he would be submitting the memorandum of Kashmiri Pandit groups to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and request him to take an appropriate view on it.
He appealed to the State Government to review the decision and ensure that the issue does not lead to any kind of sectarian or social strife particularly in a sensitive State like J&K
“That is our responsibility which all of us owe irrespective of our party affiliations,” said Singh, a Lok Sabha member from J&K’s Udhampur constituency.
He assured the delegation to take up the matter with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
J&K Government said no permission had been granted for the proposed yatra to Kounsarnag and as such the question of succumbing to separatist pressure does not arise.
“We had not given any permission to any yatra to Kounsarnag area, so the question of suspending the area under separatist pressure does not arise,” State Tourism Minister G A Mir said in Srinagar.
The Yatra used to begin in May and culminate on ‘Naag Panchami’ but after the onset of militancy, small batches were sent from Reasi area of Jammu region for performing the ‘puja’ at the Lake.
A group of yatris, however, performed puja today and were escorted back from Reasi area in Jammu.
Hundreds of residents of Aharbal and its surrounding areas staged a protest and marched towards Kounsarnag area of Kulgam district yesterday after a local newspaper reported that the Reasi district administration was planning to facilitate the annual Yatra to Kounsarnag where a pristine lake is situated and that a temple may be built.
There was opposition from various quarters including residents, environmentalists, civil society groups and separatists with hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani calling for a shutdown on Saturday.
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu stepped into the Kashmir valley the first time at this place only and the water in the lake comes out at five places in the Lake signifying the five fingers of the Lord Vishnu.
Jammu and Kashmir Government maintained the Yatra to Kounsarnag in Kulgam district of south Kashmir has been performed using the traditional route starting from Reasi and there was no question of buckling under separatist pressure to stop the pilgrimage.
“The Kounsarnag yatra starts from the traditional route of Reasi in Jammu region and does not pass through the Valley. About 200 people performed the yatra this year,” Home Secretary Suresh Kumar told reporters here.
In response to a question, he said there was no question of buckling under the pressure of separatists on the issue.
“The separatists give call for boycott of many things but those things still go on. The Amarnath yatra has been going on smoothly,” he said.
He said there is a traditional route for the Kounsarnag yatra. The yatra has been going on for the last four to five years.
The VHP also questioned why tourists and pilgrims were being “discouraged” from going to the area when their arrival will only boost the tourism industry.
State VHP general secretary Sham Lal Gupta said, “It has become crystal clear that the administration is playing in the hands of separatists and anti-national forces.”
Kashmiri Pandits in the US have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allowing the Kounsarnag religious yatra in the valley to proceed after the Jammu and Kashmir Government rescinded the order permitting the event.
Expressing dismay and anger on the recent decision of J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to rescind the order permitting Kashmiri Pandits to proceed with the annual and peaceful religious yatra to Kounsarnag , the Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA) in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh urged that the Kounsarnag Yatra should be allowed to continue with immediate effect.
“The Kashmiri Pandits have historically been guardians of the ecology of Kashmir where every spring, river and mountain has been treated with respect as opposed to the degradation that has been caused in recent decades by the forces who oppose them and who do not want the Pandits to expose this destruction of the environment of Kashmir through unrestrained illegal activities,” the letter said.
“We note that this is the third disturbance that has been created in the Valley following reports that your administration is looking at plans to rehabilitate the Kashmiri Pandits who had been expelled from the Valley in 1990 and have been living in exile for the last twenty five years,” the letter said.
KOA has called for a general body meeting on August 31 in California to review the situation and determine their next course of action. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel