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| CONTROVERSY ON AMARNATH ICE LINGAM | | JUSTICE GUPTA SAYS MY OBSERVATIONS BASED ON REPORT OF MAHANT DEEPENDRA GIRI, SASB CEO | |
Jammu, August 28: The controversy on Artificial ice lingam has taken a rebirth following protests by the priest of Mattan and Ganeshpora shrines in south Kashmir blaming the commission for having “manipulated its report so as to please the Governor and the Shrine Board.”
President Prohit Sabha Martand Mattan Ashok Kumar Sidha on Monday said an attempt has been made to defame the priests of Mattan without providing any evidence. He said it was not physically possible for any one to reach Cave shrine in the presence of heavy deployment of security forces on the yatra route.
It may be mentioned that Mr Gupta had, in his report, observed that that involvement of priests installing an artificial ice lingam “cannot be ruled out” and this very observation had angered the priests.
While denying that the allegations leveled by the priests. Mr Gupta told mediamen in Jammu on Monday that “his observations were based on two reports, one submitted to him by Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Board,Dr Arun Kumar,and the other by Mahant Deependra Giri,custodian of Shiva’s silver mace.” He said that the Mahant had given his report during a meeting of the Shrine Board on May 30 in which he had not ruled out the possibility of involvement of priests in the tampering of the ice lingam and Dr Kumar had also,in his report,to the commission suspected priests’ hand behind installing a man-made ice lingam.
About the priests’ claim that since police personnel had been deployed in and around the shrine a month in advance of the commencement of the pilgrimage there was no question of visiting the cave shrine for tampering with the lingam after the posting of the police,Mr Gupta said that this season the police was deployed on June 1 and entry into the cave prior to the police deployment was not a difficult task.
He cited the statement of DSP,Mr Shelly Singh,who headed by the police team near the shrine in which he had said that when they entered into the shrine they saw eight feet high ice lingam .When the Shrine Board authorities visited the Shrine on May 16 there was no formation of the ice lingam.The Board authorities had stated that the ligam had started forming when drops from the glacier trickled inside the cave from May 19.
Mr Gupta alleged that somebody was trying to mislead the priests and they were welcome to meet “me and go through the reports submitted to me by the Board officials and the Mahant.””My report is based on the documents submitted by the Shrine Board,the Mahant and on the cross examination of over 300 witnesses,”Mr Gupta said adding that “I have not,in my report,said that priests are responsible for tampering with the ice lingam.” |
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