The BJP is beating the development drum this time more loudly to overcome many other hurdles besides anti-incumbency. While the party is claiming it is looking for a much bigger victory than in 2017, BJP observers are not too sure about it, reports Shishir Prashant.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration is planning to set up India's best mythological theme park near the famous Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district and has sought investors for the project, officials said.
'The PDP has all the time stressed that the semblance of peace and normalcy it has brought in the valley must not be taken for granted. There is no substitute for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. The problem is still there,' says the PDP vice president
A day after the Jammu and Kashmir government took over yatra arrangements after the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board withdrew its request for the forest land, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday appealed to people to resume normal activities and let peace prevail while asking politicians and other groups not to rake up an already settled issue of land transfer. The Chief Minister urged politicians and leaders of various groups not to put the people to inconvenience & trouble.
Ahead of the fourth round of planned talks with a governor's panel, the Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti also said any solution should also give the shrine board exclusive control of the land during the yatra. There was no official word of any peace formula to end the crisis.
Following the massive fire that spread to several areas, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board requested the Air Force to help douse the fire.
Yet another controversy dogged this year's edition of Amarnath pilgrimage with the state government and the shrine board locking horns over the issue of helicopter services for the affluent pilgrims.
The first batch comprising 1,160 Amarnath yatris was on Friday flagged off by the state tourism minister from Jammu base camp to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
As the number of COVID-19 cases is witnessing a spike in India, religious places across the country remain closed to encourage social distancing, a key component in preventing the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
A record number of over 18.2 lakh (1.8 million) pilgrims have visited the shrine so far since January one.
The task for RS Rawat to enter the assembly might not be easy, especially with the ongoing situation arising out of Covid-19, lack of vaccines and allegations of poor hospital facilities, reports Shishir Prashant.
The Supreme Court on Thursday held that it is government's constitutional obligation to provide basic facilities to pilgrims who visit religious places and directed the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir government to ensure proper health and other amenities to Amarnath yatris.
The first batch of over 12,000 yatris (pilgrims) left for the cave shrine located at 14,500 feet above the sea level from the two base camps.
In a bid to enhance preparedness for disaster management among government officials involved in management of the annual Amarnath Yatra starting July 2, National Disaster Management Authority has planed to conduct a three-day mock drill.
Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of the holy mace, accompanied by over 100 'sadhus' reached the shrine with the Charri Mubarak this morning, Shri Amarnath Shrine Board officials said.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath will begin on June 28 this year and it will be spread over 55 days. The yatra schedule was announced after a meeting of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board chaired by SASB Chairman and Governor N N Vohra.
The annual Amarnath yatra to the 3,880-metre high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas will commence on June 28 and culminate, as per the tradition, on the day of Raskha Bandhan festival on August 22, officials said.
At least 600 pilgrims traveling to the Amarnath shrine, led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers, on Sunday courted arrest after they were prevented from proceeding towards the hill shrine by the state administration. The date of the yatra was fixed on June 25 by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. But the pilgrims tried to start the yatra from Sunday, defying the prohibitory orders clamped to deter them.
The 37-day annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath will commence from June 25, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board which manages the yatra said.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Tuesday asked Art of Living founder and Shri Amarnath Shrine Board member, Sri Sri Ravishankar, to keep away from the "boiling issue" of curtailment of Amarnath yatra, saying otherwise he will "burn his hands"
The crisis over the start date of the Amarnath Yatra deepened with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad showing no signs of relenting and a top VHP leader on Tuesday stating that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti will lead a contingent of devotees to the cave shrine on June 3. The board has left sadhus all across India angry by disobeying him, he added.
Spritual Guru and member of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that he was deeply pained over the toll of casualties during the Sri Amaranth pilgrimage year after year.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Thursday refused to accept the date fixed by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for the annual pilgrimage to the cave temple in south Kashmir Himalayas, saying the yatra this year will commence on June 4 for which it will begin registering pilgrims from Friday.
Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravishankar on Tuesday said there was no pressure on the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board on deciding the duration of the Amarnath yatra, which was shortened keeping in view the safety of the pilgrims.
A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said that due silence has to be maintained only in front of the ice stalagmite resembling the 'ShivaLinga'.
The heavy rush of unregistered pilgrims pouring in thousands into the Valley daily is posing a serious challenge to the authorities who are facing overcrowding at the base camps, traffic jams and throwing haywire the logistics put in place for the annual Amarnath yatra.
The 'pratham pujan' which marks the beginning of the annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath was held on Wednesday at Panjtarni, on the Pahalgam-cave shrine trek.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath will begin on June 29, Sri Amarnath Shrine Board which manages the yatra announced on Thursday.
A series of guidelines have been issued to pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath Yatra this year, including asking women not to wear sarees while trekking, by the shrine board which organises the two-month long pilgrimage.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) shall provide these facilities during Amarnath yatra this year, he said adding that a detailed plan was being prepared by the BSNL.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday claimed it had little role to play in the ongoing violent agitation in Jammu against the cancellation of land allotment to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.Claiming that the role of political activists in this 'mass movement' was minimal, the BJP asked the government to directly speak to the people leading the movement 'with an open mind' instead of trying to resolve the issue through an all-party meeting, convened by the Prime Minister.
As Jammu and Kashmir continued to be on the boil, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani alleged on Thursday that the United Progressive Alliance government was lacking seriousness to resolve the problem and accused it of 'discriminating' against Jammu and "alienating the nationalist opinion".
An indefinite curfew was imposed in the entire Jammu city on Thursday morning following fresh tension in the wake of a youth's suicide against the revocation of the forest land allotment to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. Police and Central Reserve Police Force troopers have been deployed in strength to enforce curfew restrictions in the city.
Over five thousand pilgrims who left for the holy cave of Amarnath on Tuesday morning from north Kashmir's Baltel route had to abort the arduous uphill trek as the weather turned worse.
The Bharat bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Aam Hartal called by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday failed miserably in New Delhi, claimed senior officers of the Delhi Police.However, Jagdish Mukhi, senior leader of BJP's Delhi unit, rejected the claim that the BJP's call for nationwide strike has evoked no response. "The markets in trans-Yamuna area are closed. Similarly, the markets in Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh and South Extension are all ," he said.
Inclement weather could delay the annual Amar Nath Yatra, hinted Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Seventy Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party activists were arrested as they clashed with police during a bandh called by them in protest against Jammu and Kashmir government's decision not to hand over forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board. Nine persons were injured in baton charge and stone-pelting during the clash, sources said.
The annual Amarnath yatra has been re-scheduled and will now commence from June 15. The postponement has been forced by the presence of heavy snow on the yatra route to the Himalayan Cave Shrine located at a height of 13000 feet from both southern Chandanwari and northern Baltal routes.
A near total general strike, public protests and widespread processions marred life across Kashmir on Friday. Thousands of people marched from various localities of summer capital Srinagar, converging on Lal Chowk, the city centre where they shouted slogans against the government and the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
Violent protests continued throughout the capital Srinagar and other towns on Thursday against the allotment of forest land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board as the Kashmir valley remained shut for the third consecutive day.
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