Compared to 12,000 pilgrims in 2016, only 500 to 600 devotees visited the shrine to offer prayers on Friday. Civil unrest is considered to be the major reason that prevented Kashmiri pandits from visiting the shrine this year.
Unrest has hit the annual Mela Kheer Bhawani in Kashmir with only a few hundred Kashmiri pandits turning up for the prayers at the revered shrine of Mata Ragnya Devi in Tulmulla village in central Kashmir.
Compared to 12,000 pilgrims in 2016, only 500 to 600 devotees visited the shrine to offer prayers on Friday. Civil unrest is considered to be the major reason that prevented Kashmiri pandits from visiting the shrine this year.
"It is the first time since 1999 that the number of devotees has fallen to this level. Devotees thronged the shrine even during the 2010 unrest. Unrest and propaganda both in electronic media and social media has played its part this time," said Sanjay Kumar Tickoo from Kashmir Pandit Sangarsh Simiti (KPSS), an apex body of non-migrant Kashmiri pandits.
The falling numbers of the pilgrims even shocked the administration. Syed Shahnawaz Bukhari, additional deputy commissioner of Ganderbal, said, "Only 345 pandits had turned up at the shrine till 10 pm on Thursday. We did not expect such a small number of people."
Situated in Tulmulla village, Kheer Bhawani temple is one of the holiest Hindu shrines in the valley.
Vinod Pandit, chairman of All Parties Migrants Co-ordination Committee (APMCC) — an apex body of migrant Kashmiri pandits — said, "It is sad that only few pilgrims turned up. We have been working hard to reopen temples in the valley," said.
Despite low turnout, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti visited Tulmullah to personally greet members of pandit community. "People in Kashmir eagerly await the return of their brethren. The socio cultural milieu of Valley is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits," she said.
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