When someone from the heard of media spokesperson says "Nation wants to know" in front of the houses of disaster struck Kashmiri Pandits like Rahul Bhat, being a part of the same media heard sometimes I wonder who is the nation here? What is so much glorious about your idea of nation that wants to know the sorrow of the grieving families after their losses ?? As neither you nor me are the ones who have lost their near and dear ones. What possible amount of grief can you and me share? The answer is none even though I am not at all related to the grieving families by religion, caste or by any sorts of hypothetical groupings, but as a sane, humble, common man I am astonished to see that none of the big media moguls have given a thought about the timings of the attack. When I watch those big debate on prime time news, I keep on hoping that one sane panelists will bring up the point about the wonderful timings of the targeted killings of the Pandits in the valley. And unfortunately there is none till date. So cutting the chase short I feel that these targeted killings have a direct link to the Amarnath Yatra.
I would like to give you an overview of the Sacred Yatra of the Hindus. Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir. The cave is situated at an altitude of 12,756 ft and about 141 km from Srinagar accessible through Pahalgam town. The cave is located in the Lidder Valley, surrounded by glaciers, snowy mountains which are covered with snow most of the year. Every year when the snow melts, the temple opens for a specific duration for the devotees to carry out their religious ceremonies. This year the pilgrimage will commence on 30th of June and will end on the 45th day. Every year approx 2 to 3 lakh devotees turn up for the pilgrimage with an exception of last two years as the yatra was closed due to Covid. It is said in the Hindu mythology that, this is the place where Shiva explained the secret of life and eternity to his divine consort, Parvati with a gist stated above it is safe to summarize that the Amarnath pilgrimage is a very sacred ceremony in the Hindu religion and is comparable to our pilgrimage of Macca Madina.
See a lot has happened since the last full scale Yatra in the year 2019. If we see the chronology of events the first event was abrogation of Article 370 and 35A. Second was the never ending lock-downs enforced due to Covid Pandemic, which curtailed the movement. The Amarnath Yatra Board had to cancel the pilgrimage for two consecutive years in the view of the lock-downs enforced. This is the first year since a gap of two whole years that this Yatra is again scheduled. Hence, it is but obvious that some anti national elements have a vested interest in preventing the Yatra from going as planned. Majoritily due to the events that occurred post Abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent delimitation process that changed the demography of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. It seems that, these so called morally upright elements who are so keen on taking up responsibility post any terrorist attack, are of the view that if they target the unarmed, innocent civilian Kashmiri Hindus in the valley they somehow can create fear among the people and a pseudo instability can be created, which in turn will make the Govt rethink their decision on proceeding with the Yatra.
Now the final question that keeps on buzzing in my mind -- What does Kashmir gain from this episode? Frankly, NOTHING. Some may argue otherwise but these are a few points that I would like to bring out. Let me start with the history, In the 70’s, for merchants and local businesses along the route, it was a good season to make money. At Mach Bawan, local Hindus would join the pilgrimage. Maliks of Batok were responsible for the route during these years. Local Muslim Bakarwal-Gujjars also make a living by offering services to the Hindu pilgrims. This source of income has been threatened by the Terrorist groups who have harassed the pilgrims and attacked the yatra. It is not the first occasion that attempts were made by terrorist organisations to sabotage the Yatra. In the year 2016, during unrest in Kashmir the Yatra was cancelled, but by an appeal by the local Shia cleric Kalbe Jawed, and general secretary of Majlis-e-Ulama-e-Hind and Sufi cleric Hasnain Baqai expressing concern that the tradition had been suspended because of upheaval in Kashmir, a section of Sufis and Shias later demanded resumption of the Yatra. It is an irony that on one hand people like Kalbe Jawed believe in peaceful coexistence and on the other hand some anti nationals don't even feel remorse about statements such as, " Muslims who help the Kashmiri Hindus will also be killed mercilessly." I would like to say again that we Indians cannot fall prey to the pety politics and shrewd narrow minded approach of some fanatics. We need to come out strong together and stand against them. Peaceful coexistence and respect for each other's religious beliefs is the only solution for all our problems.
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