SRINAGAR: Following official restriction on Kashmir side of the suddenly planned Kousar Nag yatra, the row seems to have sparked a fresh ‘cold war’ between the J&K government and New Delhi.
The tensions became prominent when the Union government on Friday directly intervened to ‘facilitate’ the controversial pilgrimage, being organized by political activists after several decades.
The group of migrant Pandits, who actually tossed up the idea of Kousar Nag yatra many months ago, have gone all the way to Prime Minister’s Office where a resident of Jammu and a first-time MP Jitendra Singh holds an important position.
Reports on Friday said the Pandit goup, irked by the Omar Abdullah’s refusal to allow any yatra from Kulgam route, have ‘warned’ the center of a street campaign if the yatra was not allowed.
“We have heard their contention. I am sure if the concerns cited for denial of permission are not convincing enough the state government should facilitate the yatra for which we asked the administration in Reasi Jammu to arrange choppers,” said Jitendra Singh soon after his meeting with the representatives of the All Pandit Migrants Coordination Committee, the sponsors of the controversial yatra.
Singh further said, “We hope the state government will not let the situation lapse into a communal strife because the issue is very sensitive.”
Meanwhile, sources said, union home ministry has also asked the state government to clear its position over the refusal to allow yatra to an ancient lake and written to the state governor to “look into the matter.” Governor Narendra Nath Vohra is already heading two powerful pilgrimage boards that manage Hindu pilgrimages to Amarnath cave shrine in Kashmir and Vaishno Devi temple in Katra Jammu.
Social media is also rife with harsh reactions to “Omar bowing before separatists.” A hashtag #OmarSurrenders has been putting up stiff opposition to the government’s denial to the yatra, which is being talked about after many decades. Even the media lost no time in siding with the yatra. Alka Saxena, a longtime news anchor, tweets, “Omar Govt bows to separatists, months before polls in state, denies permission for the Kousar Nag yatra on the usual route.”
While Omar Abdullah may gloat over the prospects of being emerging as a savior of Muslim identity in Kashmir, the row has literally upset his government which has big ministries with Congress and the Congress has stakes in Hindu dominated Jammu, Udhampur and Kathua.
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