Excelsior Correspondent
POONCH, Aug 17: A bandh was observed in the townships of Mandi and Mendhar in district Poonch while a large number of pilgrims after performing ‘dahrshan’ at the shrine of Shri Budha Amarnath ji returned today.
‘Charri Mubarak’ will return to Akhara Mandir Poonch tomorrow on the day of Raksha Bandan after special prayers and Havan/ Yagya at the shrine. The head priest of Akhara Mandir, Shri 1008 Swami Vishavatma Anand Saraswati ji Maharaj was leading the Holi mace (Charri Mubarak).
On the issue of provocative slogans, the members of one community observed bandh in Mandi town and also held demonstration for some time. But the movement of the Yatri vehicles remained uninterrupted. The police and army were providing protection to the pilgrims.
SP Poonch JS Johar, DC MH Malik and local Brigade Commander, Brig A S Pandarkar played crucial in defusing tension and ensuring security/ protection to the thousands of pilgrims. They also held meetings with the members of both the communities and prominent citizens and sought their help to defuse tension and maintain communal harmony.
In Mendhar town, a complete shut down was observed in support of restoration or peace and normalcy in Kashmir and protest against the killings there. Members of both the communities including Beopar Mandal, Mendhar Bar, Transport Association in a meeting held on Tuesday took a collective decision to observe peaceful bandh on Wednesday. No untoward incident was reported in the town during bandh.
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