Kousar Naag was never a pilgrim destination: Bakaya Srinagar, Aug 10: Kashmiri Pandit leader and ruling National Conference Member of Legislative Council (MLC), Vijay Bakaya Wednesday said Kousar Naag was never a pilgrim destination and some groups were blowing the issue out of proportion. “As far as I know, Kousar Naag has never been a pilgrimage destination and people have been going for trekking to this beautiful lake,” Bakaya said in an interview to Rising Kashmir at his residence in Srinagar. The former chief secretary and Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Bakaya said the All Parties Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) should have taken care that the so-called pilgrimage they were organizing should not put a question mark on their intentions.The government has already stated that Kousar Nag yatra was not a traditional pilgrimage like Amarnath yatra.Minister of State for Home, Sajad Ahmad Kichloo said he did not know why people were making it controversial. Bakaya, who served as adviser to the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Principal Secretary to the then Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed said, as per the religious scriptures, Kousar Naag was a place of significance for Hindus and referred to as ‘Vishnupad’ or the foot of Vaishnu.He said yatris would visit Kousar Naag but not many and those too would take the route from Reasi.Bakaya said just 20 to 30 Kashmiri Pandits had decided to visit Kousar Naag this year and the government had given a go ahead but later on the organizers pegged the numbers at 4000, following which the government had to review the decision. “Some people wanted to visit Kousar Naag and DC Kulgam informed the administration about the routine request of the organizers and asked for making necessary arrangements for them,” he said. “However, when there was such an unexpected reaction, the government reviewed the decision as the administration has every right to take measures and avoid taking decisions that disturb normalcy.” Reacting to the government’s decision, APMCC yatra organizers had blamed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led government for creating unnecessary controversy over yatra of Kashmiri Pandits to Kousar Naag. They blamed the National Conference-led government of creating communal disturbances and a wedge between the two communities of Kashmir with an eye on the forthcoming legislative assembly polls in the State.Bakaya said the environmental concerns of the people of Kashmir were legitimate and needed to be taken care of. He said Amarnath shrine board, which organizes the annual Amarnath yatra, was taking care of these concerns. “Around 6 lakh yatris visited Amarnath last year and it is due to more exposure and media coverage that people across India are getting to know about these destinations and the spiritual experiences the yatris have,” Bakaya said. “It is not part of any jingoism.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 00:08:43 +0000