On high alert: An Indian security personnel standing guard along a road in Sonamarg, ahead of Amarnath Yatra, the annual Hindu pilgrimage. — AFP
Hindus began a vast month-long pilgrimage in contested Indian Kashmir, with many of the faithful starting from near the site where a deadly April attack triggered conflict with Pakistan.
Last year, half a million devotees took part in the Amarnath pilgrimage to a sacred ice pillar located in a cave in the forested Himalayan hills above the town of Pahalgam.
Pahalgam is the site where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists.
New Delhi said the gunmen were backed by Pakistan, claims Islamabad rejected – triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict.
It was the worst standoff by the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides, before a May 10 ceasefire.
But pilgrim Muneshwar Das Shashtri, who travelled from Uttar Pradesh state, on Thursday said “there is no fear of any kind”.
“Our army is standing guard everywhere. No one can raise a finger towards us,” he said.
India has ramped up security for the event, deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the gruelling trek to reach the high-altitude cave, dedicated to the Hindu deity of destruction Shiva.
“We have multi-layered and in-depth security arrangements so that we can make the pilgrimage safe and smooth for the devotees,” said VK Birdi, police chief for the Muslim-majority territory.
All pilgrims must be registered and travel in guarded vehicle convoys, until they start out to walk.
Camouflaged bunkers have been erected in the forests along the route, where dozens of makeshift kitchens provide free food.
Electronic radio cards pinpoint their location. Pilgrims can take several days to reach the cave, perched at 3,900m high, around 30km uphill from the last easily motorable track.
“Whatever the attack that was carried out here, I am not afraid. I have come to get a glimpse of baba (the ice formation),” said Ujwal Yadav, 29, from India’s Uttar Pradesh state, undertaking his first pilgrimage to the shrine.
“Such are the security arrangements here that no one can be hurt.” — AFP
