Sir,
Mr. B.L. Saraf has very rationally presented the Amarnath yatra issue (Attempt to demean ….DE April 30) without bias or anger. Dispassionate analysis of a ticklish issue is not everybody’s cup of tea. Obviously, presence of two or three lakhs of people or their passage to the pilgrimage destination definitely has the ecological and environmental angle. No denial of that. However, the saying is that we cannot change the nature but we can change our attitude towards it. Visitation to shrines and religious places in small or big numbers is an ancient tradition in almost all countries in South Asia. It has become integral part of our civilization.
Therefore denying pilgrims, even when in large numbers, the right to cultural or religious destinations is out of question for any Government more so a democracy. But we need to adopt modern and scientific methods to minimize the adverse impact of assemblage or movement of hundreds of thousands of people to a religious spot. That is what keeps the ecology and environment of famous religious sites like Mata Vaishno Devi, Shirdi, Dargah Hazratbal, Ajmer Sharif, Golden Temple, Prayagraj, Kumbh, and the holy Mecca clean and non-detrimental to respective ecologies. This should be true of Amarnath yatra. Mr. B.L. Saraf has very ably argued the case for dropping opposition to Amarnath Yatri on principles of civilization and history and at the same time giving modernizing effect to it. This should set at rest unnecessary controversy on the subject.
Yours etc….
K.N. Pandita
Jammu
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel