VHP writes to President about irregularities in Amarnath Yatra by J&K Governer

VHP writes to President Pratibha Patil regarding irregularities being committed in the conduction of the sacred but arduous Amarnath Yatra by the Sri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) under the stewardship of the present Governor of Jammu & Kashmir H.E. Sri Narendra Nath Vohra !

Mr. Ashok Singhal and Mr. V. K. Vora addressing press conference

Mr. Ashok Singhal and Mr. V. K. Vora addressing press conference

Below is the letter sent by VHP to President Pratibha Patil

Press Release by VHP :

BABA AMARNATH EVAM BABA BUDHA AMARNATH YATRI NYAS
Baba Amarnath & Baba Budhaa Amarnath Pilgrims Trust)
Central Office: Shakti Ashram, Purani Rihri, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir.
Jammu Office Phone: 0191-2540897
Provincial Office: Ranvireshwar Mandir, Shalamar Marg, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir.
Delhi Office: Sankat Mochan Ashram, Sector-6, R.K.Puram, New Delhi – 110 022
Delhi Office Ph.: 011-26103495, 26178992; Mobiles: 09560018282, 09013102851

Ref.#BA&BBAYN/1/2012Tithi: Baishakh Shukla 12, 2069 VS, (May 03, 2012)

HER EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT OF BHARAT

SMT. PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL

RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN

NEW DELHI.

E-Mail : [email protected]

EXCELLENCY,

Sadar Pranam & Jai Baba Amarnath !

Subject: Obdurate irregularities being committed in the conduction of the sacred but arduous Amarnath Yatra by the Sri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) under the stewardship of the present Governor of Jammu & Kashmir H.E. Sri Narendra Nath Vohra!

With humble respects and compliments, we wish to approach your high offices with the following submission:

Your learned-self knows well Sri Amarnath Cave Temple Pilgrimage – the challenging Yatra undertaken by the Sant Fraternity and the common devotees to Mount Amarnath at an Himalayan altitude of 13,500 ft surrounded by snowy mountains to have a holy glimpse and the blessings of Baba Amarnathji (King of Immortality, Truth & Light; Bhagwan Shiva) – has been in vogue since times immemorial, i.e., even during the Mahabharata period over 5,000 years ago it was venerated and celebrated as one of the ‘ancient’ Yatras pertaining to the grand network of Spirituo-Cultural Circuits of Bharatvarsh ensconced between the great Himalayan Ranges and the Seas. Negotiating with the now sweet and now rough weather and terrain, the Hindu lion-heart pilgrims have anyway been trekking and mountaineering to the Holy Shrine all the year round, but the mega Yatra taking place between Jyestha Purnima and Shraavan Purnima does have an outstanding significance in the calendar of activities there. The zeal and zest of the pilgrims never dwindled in spite of natural calamities and terrorist attacks. Instead the pilgrim traffic kept on mounting year after year. Some mishaps caused by vagaries of nature warranted the formation of ‘Sri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB)’ that came into being in 2001 CE whose duties, rights and scope of activities were defined under the ‘Jammu-Kashmir Sri Amarnathji Shrine Board Act, 2000’ by the State Government there. In addition, some express  directions  pertaining  to this Act were issued by the Hon’ble High Court of Jammu & Kashmir. H.E. the Governor of the State was appointed the ex-officio Chairman of this important Shrine Board. In its initial years the Shrine Board facilitated and entertained the pilgrims by deliverance of several remarkable works. But, unfortunately, for the last some years the Shrine Board working under the stewardship of the present Governor of Jammu & Kashmir H.E. Sri Narendra Nath Vohra has unduly jumped its mandate and disturbed the landscapes and mindscapes thereby upsetting the Hindu society and also deteriorating the sensitive atmosphere of Jammu & Kashmir.

Some of the controversial decisions taken by the present Governor are given hereby :

• In order for facilitation of the Amarnath Pilgrims the Government of Jammu & Kashmir had made a provisional allotment of some plots of land in the Amarnath Yatra district which was also validated by the Hon’ble High Court. But intimidated by the conspiratorial hullabaloo and dust raised by the separatists in the year 2008, the present Governor made an unauthorized declaration of returning the said land to the Government. With this defeatist declaration and by transferring the responsibility of running this Yatra to the Government he had expressed his lack of ability. At that time this unbecoming declaration had not only fired emotions in the sensitive region of Jammu & Kashmir but also disappointed and frustrated the whole nation and the entire global Hindu presence that forms 1/6th of the 7 billion global population.

• It is a matter of great happiness for all who look upon the State of Jammu & Kashmir as an integral part of Bharat and celebrate the Amarnath Yatra as the State’s greatest annual event that now this Yatra occupies an outstanding position in the national and international pilgrimage map and the pilgrimage now registers an expotential growth in terms of participation of pilgrims which is why the Hon’ble High Court had also issued unambiguous orders in 2004 that the period of this Yatra should be for two months. Till 2009 CE the Yatra ran for 60 days. But in 2010, for some strange reason, it was reduced to 55 days. Faced with protests from the Hindu society and the Sant fraternity, His Excellency the Governor gave assurances for a 60-day Yatra the following year. But when the time for the Yatra came in 2011, he, under a mysterious arbitrary move, curtailed the Yatra duration to 45 days. This time round the ruse was that due to much ice cover the Yatra could not be flagged off prior to 29th June. Discounting the strong protests from the Hindu society he maintained an obdurate stance. In spite of this the Yatra took off at the traditional ‘Muhurta’ (appointed time), i.e., Jyestha Purnima – Fullmoon Day in the month of Jyestha. But the situation then turned ridiculous when the Yatra was held up thrice to gratify his stubbornness and also the excuse that he would himself offer worship on 29th June. Every year by raising an unwarranted controversy over the time-honoured fact of Yatra duration including its flag off and the finale dates, H.E. the Governor has been creating tempests and this atmosphere of uncertainty appears to be conspiring to put a question mark on the future of the Yatra. If, commencing from the month of April, the annual arduous 22,000 ft. high altitude Mansarovar Yatra and the 12,000 ft. high altitude Kedarnath Yatra in challenging mountainous terrain can run with gusto for an unbroken period of long six months, why cannot the 13,500 ft. high altitude Amarnath Yatra run for 60 days commencing on Jyestha Purnima (June 4) with finale on Shraavan Purnima (August 2/Raksha Bandhan Day)!

• Over 8 lakh pilgrims are expected to turn up for the Yatra this year. If this 8-lakh strong Yatra is stuffed into a 39-day scale from 25th June to 02nd August, 2012 as has been arbitrarily laid down by H.E. the Governor, thereby contemptuously trashing the conventional 60-day scale without rhyme or reason, then over 22,000 Yatris shall have to be accommodated per day which will not at all be possible under the present arithmetic. If H.E. the Governor remains adamant, there could be anarchy which might result in casualties of pilgrims. Due to his adamant behaviour 131 Yatris died last year. This must be avoided by increasing the duration of the Yatra, i.e., conducting it from 04th June (not 25th June) to 02nd August, 2012.

• Instead of performing his duties as set down by the Shrine Board Act, H.E. the Governor has been hanging out with and propping up those things and activities that are expressly prohibited by the Constitution of Bharat, the Sri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) Act and the Hon’ble Judiciary. His mandate is for smooth conduction of and extensive & intensive infrastructural facilitation for the Yatra including its safety and security aspects. But, unfortunately, his energy and focus is misspent every year on his misplaced keenness to meddle with the Yatra duration and its traditional Muhurt. Articles 25 & 26 of the Constitution of Bharat and the Orders of the Hon’ble High Court forbid any obstructionism by any Government or Board in such a matter of national importance that not only concerns the national society’s belief, faith and worship but also ensures the country’s territorial integrity and national unity. Given the great significance this august and pristine Shrine commands in our national psyche and life, the unjustifiable annual acts of omission & commission affecting this Yatra only serves directly or indirectly the agenda of the separatists that do the bids of forces that handle them from across the borders who, the world knows, want that this Yatra that ensures Bharatiya integrity must be done away with at any cost for all times to come.

• Still worse, H.E. the Governor also entertains such irreverent members on the Shrine Board panel that have no faith in Baba Amarnathji and the Yatra. One contemptuous member says this Yatra endangers environment and melts the glacier of the place. Everybody knows that there is no glacier whatsoever there. By transmission of such fallacious, misplaced and misleading pieces of their irreverent minds they strike at the roots of Hindu reverence and faith and question the very raison d’etre of the natural Shrine, the pristine Yatra and by extension all the Yatras in the Himalayas and elsewhere. Yet another derisive member questions the scientificity and raison d’etre of Baba Amarnathji. About 70% of manpower on the Shrine Board is non-Hindu as against the time-honored universal principle that people not identifying with or not subscribing to the school of belief, faith and worship of a Shrine or a place of worship or a religion must not have a locus standi on its Board or Trust. It is quite discernible as to whether the present Shrine Board constituted on such anomalous and irreverent lines would promote the cause of this sacred Yatra or ensure its uprooting at the end of the day!

• Your Excellency, there are more such cases in point pertaining to the weird approach and functional patterns of H.E. the Governor that strike at the roots of Hindu faith and points of veneration. The unfair decisions being taken by him by jumping the Constitutional mandates are upsetting more the situation of Jammu & Kashmir and hurting ad infinitum the sensibilities of the Hindu society.

We, therefore, hereby humbly request Your Excellency to :

• Use your good offices to ensure that H.E. the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir honours the Hindu sentiments regarding Sri Baba Amarnath Yatra;

• Have reconstituted the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) with inclusion of only those members in its rank & file that have Aasthaa (faith and reverence) in Baba Amarnath;

• The Muhurt and duration of the Yatra should be determined as per the Hindu Astha and tradition which speaks of the Yatra running from Jyestha Purnima (this year falling on 04th June, 2012) to Shraavan Purnima (August 02/Raksha Bandhan Day). So far as the question of vagaries of nature and weather is concerned, it is a well-known fact that when it is bad then every such Yatra remains in suspended animation and awaits the situation turning fair. Such serene and prayerful wait under austere and minimalistic conditions the pilgrims practice in this Yatra as well. The Yatra last year had started on 29th June as per the Governor’s plan, and even then the Yatra had to be suspended for 6 times due to prohibitive weather conditions. Did not the pilgrims practice patient wait that time round? Can the Governor guarantee that if the Yatra begins on 25th June it won’t be suspended?

• In case the weather goes rough there is no arrangement for the pilgrims to take shelter/cover. Therefore, at Pahalgam and Baltal proper Permanent and safe 15-20 thousand capacity Yatra Houses with all basic amenities should be put up;

• Due to natural calamities sometimes adverse situations crop up there, but there is only one hospital there and that too a very small one. Big Hospitals may be set up at Baltal, Nunawar, etc., and small hospitals at 4-5 other points on the Yatra routes;

• As the hills and mountains at Tirupati and Mata Vaishno Devi have been designated as ‘Sacred Hills’ and ‘Sacred Mountains’, on similar lines the Amarnath Mount and the area surrounding it and also covering all possible conduits leading to it should be declared as Sacred Sri Amarnathji Area;

• The pilgrim traffic to Sri Amarnathji has been increasing every year. The footfall during the coming 5 years may even register the 10-lakh digit. Instead of the negative approach of putting a ceiling on the pilgrim traffic, a Master Plan should be put in place immediately to address the questions of putting up Permanent as well as makeshift Yatra Houses en route including adequate supply of power and water, widened and paved roads, big as well as small Hospitals, etc. This work schedule should be executed from now on. The cooperation of the society may also be taken in this work.

• Your Excellency, the Governor of a State functions as your representative. A Governor’s activities, therefore, reflect on the standing of your highest offices. If a Governor jumps his mandate and takes a wide off the mark judgment and action that also upsets the trustworthiness of such a dignified post of the country. We hope that the advice proffered by your highest offices to H.E. the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir to honour the Hindu sentiments with regard to Baba Amarnath Yatra and to meticulously observe his constitutional mandate to always uphold the national interest and that of the national society and his due acceptance of your advice would surely prevent the situation in the State from further deteriorating. H.E. the Governor needs to invoke the powers of his intuition and far-sight that would not only ensure the country’s integrity but also the integrity of the Shaiva Circuit in the Himalayan Ranges for one.

Thanking Your Excellency in anticipation,