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| Vohra favours strong security grid during Amarnath yatra | | |
Following first salvo having been fired
by Kashmiri separatists against the annual
Amarnath yatra in the shape of demanding that the duration of the pilgrimage be curtailed in order to check environmental pollution and degradation of forests Governor,N.N.Vohra,who heads the Amarnath Shrine Board that makes various arrangements for the pilgrims,has been holding series of meetings with senior functionaries of the BSF,CRPF and the police in order to upgrade the security grid which could enable pilgrims to have a hassle free yatra.Yatra starts from July 2 and ends onAugust 29..Now that the Government has not conceded the demand of separatists for reducing the yatra duration there are reports indicating that some mischief mongers may try to trigger breezy incidents of violence which could force pilgrims either to cut short their stay in Kashmir during the yatra period or cancel their pilgrimage to the abode of Shiva and his consort,Parvati in eastern Kashmir.It is unfortunate that these mischief mongers do not realize the level of financial benefits the pilgrimage provides to those sections of people who are connected with pilgrim tourism, which includes, traders, transporters, hoteliers, houseboat owners,ponywalls and porters.Already tourist traffic to the Kashmir valley has started dwindling since the rise of Pakistan sponsored militancy in the valley in 1989-1990.During these 25 years tourist traffic to the valley has declined from over seven lakh to less than three to four lakhs a year.
Against this,pilgrim tourism has remained dependable.Between three to six lakh pilgrims visit the holy mountain cave of Amarnath against over 80 lakh pilgrims to the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi.While the Amarnath yatra is held for a fixed duration,from one month to two months,the Vaishno Devi yatra goes on for full year.This way one can easily imagine the financial benefits these two yatras give to people in Jammu and Kashmir.It could have been a better benefit if majority of people in Kashmir prevail upon separatists and militants to maintain peace so that tourist traffic to the valley remained unhindered alongwith the free flow of pilgrims to Amarnath cave and the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi. The two pilgrimages add to the tradition of brotherhood in Jammu and Kashmir because majority of poneywalls, porters, hoteliers, houseboat owners and traders belong to the community of Muslims.Any disruption caused to the two pilgrimages, especially the one in Kashmir, could promote misgivings, misunderstanding between the minority and the majority communities in rest of the country.Hence the Governor is keen to have a security grid that will not provide any scope to mischief mongers to derail peace.Once peace is derailed it would have direct negative impact on the flow of tourists and pilgrims to Jammu and Kashmir.
Already the state Government has requested the Union Home Ministry for deploying between 60 and 70 additional companies of paramilitary forces.In the previous years not more than 50 additional companies of paramilitary forces used to be deployed.But to ensure incident free Amarnath yatra.Reports reveal that added additional companies of paramilitary forces had to be sought in view of the heavy workload on the police and on those companies of paramilitary forces that are posted in Jammu and Kashmir.These companies of police and paramilitary forces have to keep a close watch on militants nd separatists operating in the Kashmir valley.This way additional companies of paramilitary forces were to be utilized on escorting pilgrims to holy Amarnath cave,on carrying out road opening exercises on the entire Srinagar-Jammu highway and on Anantnag to Pahalgam route and on Srinagar to Sonamarg route and from Baltal to the holy cave. Since a large number of pilgrims ar e getting ready to trek to the holy cave of Amarnath the Shrine Board and the state Government plan to keep Baltal-cave route also open for pilgrims.Hence Vohra has been meeting senior functionaries of BSF,CRPF and the police for suggesting to them to have a foolproof security arrangements for the yatris on both the routes.Vohra is likely to have a separate meeting with senior functionaries of the Army because troops were to sanitise the entire ares around the holy mountain cave and establish their pickets on sensitive spots on Srinagar-Jammu highway. |
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