Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, Aug 30: The Baridars of Katra today observed a Black Day marking their ‘exile’ and the formation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.
A large number of Baridars assembled at Katra main chowk and staged a massive protest against the Government and the Shrine Board.
The Baridar community also took out a rally in Katra town raising slogans against the authorities. “We are observing Black Day today against the formation of the Shrine Board. It was on this day in 1986 that the then J&K Governor Jagmohan forced us out and took control of the shrine,” said Sham Singh, President of the Baridar Sangharsh Committee, while addressing the protesters.
He alleged that for the past 39 years, the Government and Shrine Board have been befooling the people, depriving the rightful Sewadars of Mata Vaishno Devi of their worship rights.
“Over 30,000 Baridars were thrown out in 1986 and our hereditary rights were snatched away. The Board took over the shrine without compensating the genuine Sewadars,” he said.
Accusing the Shrine Board of corruption and nepotism, Singh lamented that Board members are treated as VIPs at Bhawan while Baridars are not even allowed to perform puja. “We want our worship rights back,” he asserted.
Sham Singh further said that when Baridars were removed in 1986, it was claimed that their management was not good. “But now the Shrine Board’s so-called management has also failed, as evident from the tragic incidents claiming the lives of several pilgrims. The Board is working only for commercialization,” he alleged, while appealing to all political parties to raise their voice against the Shrine Board.
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