Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 15: This year’s Zysetha Ashtami yatra to holy shrine of Kheer Bhawani in Tulmulla will be a beginning of the return of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits to their homes in the Valley.
This was stated by Kashmiri Education, Cultural and Science Society, New Delhi in a statement issued here, today.
It said the holy temple of Goddess in Tulmulla will witness a congregation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits from different parts of country on June 20. The Society is hopeful that this year’s yatra will change the course in the recent dark history of the State.
It said the yatra will start from Delhi on June 18 and after 28 years of separation from their motherland the Kashmiri Pandits will finally take a step to return to their motherland.
The handout said that during last 28 years the successive Governments gave the community assurances on the return but the same has not been possible so far. But with the support and help of the State Government the struggle of the community for its return will now see the realization, it added.
Satish Mahaldar coordinator of the yatra said that the beginning is being made on the Zysetha Ashtami from the holy temple of Mata Kheer Bhawani and on June 20 the Valley will witness a congregation of thousands of displaced Pandits who will worship and perform pooja at the sacred temple.
He said it is for the first time in last 28 years that J&K Government has made special arrangements for the displaced KPs to visit the temple and it has provided all transportation facilities in Delhi and Jammu to ferry pilgrims to and fro and the expenses of the same will be borne by the State Government.
This is being considered as an important step by the State Government to facilitate the return of displaced KPs who were forcibly uprooted from the Valley in the first wave of terrorism in 1990 and since then Kashmir has seen much blood shed and loss of lives, he added.
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