Author: Mohit Kandhari
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 9, 2006
On May 23, when Shri Amarnath Shrine Board
CEO Dr Arun Kumar announced the annual Amarnath pilgrimage calendar starting
June 11 - it usually starts in July - hopes were raised that this time, the
number of pilgrims would pass previous records. Furthermore, with Chief Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad reputedly close to Jammu and Kashmir Governor and SASB chairman
Lt-Gen (Retd) SK Sinha, people also hoped the yatra would not be politicised
in the manner associated with the regime of former chief minister Mufti Muhammad
Sayeed.
But that was not to be. The Amarnath yatra
this time got embroiled in the mother of all controversies, with stories being
put out in the media suggesting that the lingam inside cave shrine this year
was man-made and not natural, and located a few feet away from the place of
the original lingam.
The story's proponents would have us believe
that someone thought it better to put together an artificial lingam in the
absence of a natural one, which reportedly did not form this year. If that
is true, glaciologists say there could be several reasons for it - inadequate
snowfall, snow melt due to high temperatures, a delay in snow formation and
the yatra starting early.
Shrine board authorities did receive complaints
before the yatra began. "There were complaints about the piling of snowflakes
and applying vermilion on the lingam by some people. Immediately, a barricade
was raised and the side entrance closed," the board spokesman said.
A week after the controversy broke out, pilgrim
traffic continued unabated. More than one lakh devotees have visited the shrine
till now this year.
Was the artificial lingam story leaked by
certain people to serve their vested interests? We may never know. But the
events do bring the PDP and the Muftis into the picture. A study of events
preceding this year's pilgrimage point to a connection between the family
and the shrine.
This issue has the potential to unseat the
Governor who also doubles up as SASB chairman and has worked tirelessly for
the yatra. The Governor and the Muftis have long stopped seeing eye to eye
after stories appeared saying he had forwarded adverse reports on the functioning
of the PDP Government to the Centre before the present chief minister took
over the state.
Soonafter the yatra schedule was announced,
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti accused the board of creating roadblocks for
locals associated with the pilgrimage by deciding to impose a registration
fee of Rs 2,400 each on labourers, horse-cart pullers and tent owners and
even threatened an agitation.
Later, Mehbooba Mufti complained on behalf
of the residents of Kangan and Pahalgam, the two pilgrimage base camps, that
the construction of large concrete structures and roads would not only deprive
locals who offered pilgrims amenities of their livelihood, but also destabilise
the region's ecology.
While making these allegations, however, Mehbooba
Mufti chose to ignore the fact that when Mufti Muhammad Sayeed was chief minister
in 2004, he had allowed certain influential individuals to pitch about 300
tents offering temporary conveniences near the shrine with scant regard for
environmental degradation. At that time, several religious organisations had
also accused Sayeed of trying to "sabotage" the pilgrimage after
reports suggested that some miscreants reportedly broke open the iron gates
of the holy cave.
Sayeed has had a long history of locking horns
with the Governor over the issue of duration of the yatra and providing security
to the pilgrims.
What was Mehbooba Mufti trying to achieve
by raising her voice in support of local residents against the board? There
are no readymade answers. At the same time, the manner in which the artificial
lingam issue was blown out of proportion by certain sections of the media
could mean that vested interests had connived to dislodge the Governor.
BJP spokesman and state unit vice-president
Prof Hari Om told The Pioneer that the issue was an attempt by vested interests
to undermine the sanctity of the shrine and drive pilgrims away by targeting
them. Mahant Deependra Giri, custodian of the holy mace of Lord Shiva, told
The Pioneer that while he did not believe that anyone in the board played
spoilsport, the controversy has certainly hurt the pilgrims' sentiments.
Irrespective of whether stories of the artificial
lingam are true, the episode has certainly jolted the faith of the lakhs of
Amarnath devotees even though they continue to throng the shrine.
