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| Praise Kashmiris for ensuring incident free yatra | | |
The end of the two-month long annual Amarnath yatra on Tuesday has brought great relief to the state Government,the security forces and above all the people of the entire country.Since July 1,when the first batch of the pilgrims was escorted from Jammu to the holy cave,fear and tension were writ large on the faces of the state administration and people.This was so because of the controversy that had developed over the duration of the yatra.As has been his practice Syed Ali Shah Geelani,who heads Tehrik Hurriyat Conference wanted the yatra period to be curtailed to 15 days.His earlier fears that prolonging the duration of the annual pilgrimage to two months could alter the demographic character of the muslim majority Kashmir valley and lead to environmental pollution
and ecological imbalance were unfounded he avoided raking up such issues during the current season.In fact his aim behind demanding curtailment of the yatra period was to ensure that the pilgrimage failed to attract several lakhs of yatris.And surprisingly three weeks before the start of the yatra the separatists gave a call for shutdown and protest rallies.The call evoked wide response from the valley which enhanced the level of law and order problem.Many had expected a major drop in the number of pilgrims because of violence and shutdown.Many had expected that the angry groups of youth,protesting against killing of civilians in police firing may attack the buses carrying pilgrims.Both these fears and misgivings were found baseless because over 4.60 lakh pilgrims had made it to the holy cave,situated at a height of 13500 feet.Pilgrims moving from Jammu to Pahalgam faced no major attack from the stone pelting agitators.Yes,one thing is certain had
there been no weather vagaries forcing intermittent suspension of yatra more than five lakh pilgrims would have made it to the holy cave before the end of the yatra.If the Government has accepted the suggestion of the Amarnath Shrine Board regarding prolonging the duration of the yara it was because of the fact that within a span of 15 days over 4.70 lakh pilgrims could not make it to the mountain cave when under norms set up by the Government not more than 5,000 pilgrims were to be allowed to proceed towards the cave from Pahalgam per day.As the yatra ended without any major incident of violence if one gives credit to the security forces for having done a good job by way of providing foolproof security cover to the pilgrims one should equally appreciate people of Kashmir for having seen to it that the yatra remained an incident free affair.Even the separatists deserve appreciation for not having incited agitators to attack buses carrying pilgrims or
by targeting pilgrim camps at Pahalgam.Once again Kashmir has shown that it continues to be a symbol of communal amity and religious tolerance.The gory incidents that forced over 3.50 lakh Hindus to migrate from Kashmir to the plains in 1990 besides some groups of known nationalist muslims in the valley has been something of a catastrophe which common people in Kashmir were not in favour.If some of them did not try to stop Hindus who were planning to leave Kashmir it was the result of the widespread scare militants had caused.Well there are elements in Kashmir that do not attach much importance to pilgrim tourism in Jammu and Kashmir.They need to be corected.The 70-day long shutdown and violence had ruined the tourist traffic to Kashmir causing heavy losses to those connected with this trade.However,these losses were compensatd,to some extent,by the pilgrims to Amarnath cave who spent money on their stay in hotels and houseboats, on engaging porters
and ponies and on purchasing kashmir handicrafts and dry and fresh fruits.They spent good sum of money on hiring taxis and buses.Still the anti-yatra forces keep on trearting pilgrims as "D" class tourists.They wish for those tourists who prefer staying in three to five star hotels and Deluxe houseboats and spend a fortune on purchasing Kashmiri carpts and other costly items.It is hoped that in future separatists or any political organisation do not rake up the issue of curtailing the yatra period to 15 days.They will not do it if they are told that these very pilgrims contribute to the state's economy and ensure sustenance to porters,poneywalls,hoteliers,traders and transporters.
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