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| Please no row over 40-day yatra period | | | No doubt the 40-day long yatra period for the annual Amarnath Yatra, fixed by the Shrine Board, may not satisfy those favouring a minimum two-month period, still it is not too small to invite any displeasue from various religious bodies and the pilgrims planning to make it to the mountain towards the third week of coming June. As per the latest calender issued by the Shrine Board the yatra will commence from June 25 and end on August 2,2012. By no stretch of imagination the period fixed by the Shrine Board can be treated too small to prevent all the pilgrims from visiting the holy cave. Not only this. The 40-day period for the annual Yatra is unikely to cause any provocation to the separatists and the Kashmir centric mainstream political parties who have been, in the past,voicing anger and resentment whenever the Shrine Board fixed a two-month period for the pilgrimage. And if the relations between Mufti Mohd. Sayeed,who headed the coalition Government from 2002 to 2005, and the then Governor S.K.Sinha,were soured and strained it was the result of the former's insistence on keeping the yatra period limited to three weeks to one month when the latter wanted a two - month period.
While the Mufti argued that long yatra period caused stress to the security personnel deployed for yatra duty Sinha wanted a longer period so that all the pilgrims could make it to the holy cave. There are some separatists and Kashmir centric mainstream political leaders who favour a short yatra duration on the plea that no adequate accommodation in hotels and huts at Pahalgam, the base camp for the pilgrimage, was left for "A" class tourists. W ell such an argument is not tenable because majority of pilgrims to Amarnath cave belong to affluent families, at least to the families that can afford to take rooms in hotels on rent during the yatra period.In addition to this most of the pilgrims go for not only sight seeking in Kashmir but also have been seen shopping for Kashmiri handicrafts and dry fruits. Over the years it has been seen that pilgrim tourism has become a backbone of state's economy. Imagine the benefit the traders,transporters and hoteliers get from the one crore pilgrims who visit annually the shrine of Mata Vaishnov Devi and over three lakh yatris who of fer prayers in the holy mountain cave at Amarnath.
Even if the Government and the Shrine Board stick to the recommendations of the Sen Gupta Committee over two lakh yat ris can make it safely to the holy mountain cave during the 40-day period.Sen Gupta Committee has recommended that not more than 5,000 pilgrims be allowed to move from Pahalgam to the cave per day. During the last several years one is witness to the fact that on many an occasions between 7,000 and 10,000 pilgrims ar allowed to trek the mountain route per day. It is the result of bigger rush and on account of temporary suspension of the yatra owing to weather related problems. The 40-day duration can suffice if the Government allows more than 9,000 pilgrims to march to the cave per day.This seems to be the need because of the growing rush of pilgrims to the holy cave. During the last several years over three lakh pilgrims have been visiting the holy cave during the yatra period. In case the Government feels that the yatra is unlikely to cause any stress or any loss to the state exchequer it should encourage mor e pilgrim traffic to the cave shrine which can be done by extending the yatra period. |
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