SRINAGAR: Ridiculing the news reports that any permission for any Yatra was given by the state government, government on Friday stated that no permission for any Yatra at Kousar Nag was issued.
Talking to a newsgathering agency KNS, Home Secretary Jammu and Kashmir Government Suresh Kumar stated that it is a mere rumor that any Yatra would take place at Kounsar nag and the state government has issued permission for the same. In actual, it is no Traditional Yatra but only a Puja that used to take place near Kousar Nag years ago.
Mr Kumar remarked that from the last few years, some people of the particular community offer prayers at the place and that no Yatra as such has ever been scheduled or taken place in the area.
When asked about the reports that a fully fledged Yatra shall be arranged and the Kousar Nag would be made as a Yatra venue likewise Shri Armarnath pilgrimage, Mr Kumar remarked that the state government has no such proposal and that only a usual prayers are being held by some people every year near the stream. Separatists by issuing strike calls against the so called Yatra that itself is not true, may have their own agenda but as far as the government is concerned, no proposal for Yatra is there.
‘Neither tourist nor pilgrimage’
Claiming that neither any permission was sought nor the state government approved any Yatra, the tourism minister and a senior Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir Friday remarked that Kousar Nag is a tourist destination and not the pilgrimage centre.
Talking to a newsgathering agency, G.A. Mir stated that the entire matter is local in nature and that the state government has no role vis-à-vis the Kousar Nag issue. The fact of the matter is that some locals for worshipping near the Kousar Nag asked for the security from the state administration. The issue is now being given an unnecessary hype and in actual the tourism department has no intention in changing Konsar nag into a pilgrimage site, Mir said.
He added further that Kousar Nag will always be a tourist destination and that no effort has been going on to convert it into any pilgrimage destination. Some locals also worshipped near the stream last year. This is a usual prayer that the people offer near the Kousar Nag and calling it a Yatra is a misnomer.
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