A showdown between Hindu religious groups and the J&K government over the annual Amarnath pilgrimage appears imminent. Ignoring chief minister Omar Abdullah’s directive, the Hindu groups have resolved to go ahead with their plan to start the pilgrimage on June 15, a fortnight prior to the scheduled date of June 29.
Rejecting all the offers of the state government to hold talks to work out a compromise, the representatives of the Hindu groups told mediapersons here Friday that they were shocked by the government’s attitude, which they alleged was “anti-Hindu and anti-pilgrimage”.
They were particularly agitated over Mr Abdullah’s reiteration that the government would deal sternly with those attempting to start the Amarnath yatra ahead of schedule.
The schedule was announced by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that manages the pilgrimage to the cave-shrine, devoted to Lord Shiv, at a height of 13,500 feet above sea level. “The CM has hurt the sentiments of Hindus by declaring that he would take all measures to stall the pilgrimage before June 29,” said spokesman of the VHP, Mr Surinder Jain.
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U’khand plea to guru
AGE CORRESPONDENT
Lucknow
June 11: In a departure from its earlier stand, the Uttarakhand government on Saturday appealed to yoga guru Baba Ramdev to call off his fast.
The Uttarakhand government, till now, had said that Baba Ramdev was free to continue his fast in the hill state. The appeal form the Uttarakhand government comes after several ministers wrote to chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, seeking his intervention in the matter.