Early Times Report
GANDERBAL, Aug 3: Mahant Dipinder Giri, custodian of the holy mace of the Amarnath cave, on Saturday said that he had not seen the Yatra being suspended even once and expressed hope that the administration would take steps to ensure it goes on unhindered. "In 27 years of my life as the custodian of the holy mace, I have never seen the Yatra being suspended after the dates are finalised. I have full faith in the administration that they will make arrangements for the holy mace to be carried to the Amarnath cave on August 11," Giri told. The Government has decided to curtail the ongoing Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir after a series of intelligence inputs were received by security agencies warning of multiple terror attacks by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad. Following this, the government on Friday advised Amarnath Yatris and tourists to curtail their stay in the Valley "immediately". "Keeping in view the latest intelligence inputs of terror threats, with specific targeting of the Amarnath Yatra, and given the prevailing security situation in the Kashmir Valley, in the interest of safety and security of the tourists and Amarnath Yatris, it is advised that they may curtail their stay in the valley immediately and take necessary measures to return as soon as possible," the state government said in a security advisory. Giri added that the joint press conference by the officials of the Director-General of the Police, CRPF, and the top brass of the Army had also made it clear that there were some serious security threats. "I think the Yatra is the responsibility of the administration, the top brass of the Army, DGP and DG CRPF in the interview raised security threats which seem to be genuine. However, it would have been better if extra measures were taken and the Yatra should have been allowed to continue," Giri said. Talking about the number of pilgrims who had visited the cave shrine this year, he said: "According to my knowledge approximately 3.45 lakh people have visited the Amarnath cave till date, which is much higher than the numbers last year." |
