He added, “It symbolises communal harmony and brotherhood which are
the hallmark of the glorious pluralistic ethos of Kashmir.” The chief minister,
while reiterating Kashmir was incomplete without pandits, said a multifaceted
programme for their return is already in place and that the government has
introduced new initiatives to facilitate their return which include earmarking
of posts in the government departments and construction of transit accommodation
in the towns of Budgam, Mattan and other places. -- Yusuf Jameel
By Yusuf Jameel
Jun 23rd, 2010
Last week, thousands of pandit expatriates relocated to Khirbhawani,
the most revered place of worship of the Kashmiri brahmins located at Tulla
Mulla, 27-km north of capital Srinagar, for the annual mela. The fair marks the
annual pilgrimage to the sacred spring that stands in the distinctive village
surrounded by islets densely covered with poplars, willows and walnut trees to
seek the blessings of goddess Ragnya Devi.
The spring is on an island and in the centre of it (spring) is a
small marble temple. The occasion was the eighth day of the full moon (Ashtami
Shuklapak) when, legend has it, the goddess here changes the colour of the
waters of the spring. Rough estimates put the number of the devotees who turned
up at the place of worship on June 19, the main day of the celebrations, at
40,000.
But local officials said that not less than 100,000 people, including
tourists from across India, paid obeisance at Khirbhawani during the three-day
mela from June 17.
Politicians, too, made a beeline at Khirbhawani during the mela to
greet the devotees. They, however, could not resist seizing the occasion to
advertise their political ideologies. Among them was Jammu and Kashmir chief
minister Omar Abdullah, who asserted that the mela “epitomises mutual
brotherhood and communal amity.”
He added, “It symbolises communal harmony and brotherhood which are
the hallmark of the glorious pluralistic ethos of Kashmir.” The chief minister,
while reiterating Kashmir was incomplete without pandits, said a multifaceted
programme for their return is already in place and that the government has
introduced new initiatives to facilitate their return which include earmarking
of posts in the government departments and construction of transit accommodation
in the towns of Budgam, Mattan and other places.
He intensely tried to reach out to the post-migration generation of
the pandits to assure them the government was working to “rejuvenate” the
relations, especially between it and the youth of the majority Muslim community.
“The new generations have to be reminded of the traditional amity and
brotherhood in which their forefathers lived peacefully. This has to be rebuilt
and strengthened,” he asserted.
Source: The Asian Age
11:25 PM
Sultan Shahin
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