Srinagar, July 23, 2016: In the wake of the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir, when the curfew is continuing for the 14th day, the Kashmiri Pandits have urged the centre to provide security to Hindu temples and religious places in the Kashmir valley.
The appeal was made by a Jammu-based organisation that manages the affairs of Zeashta Devi Mandir at Zeathyar in Srinagar. "We implore the Union government to provide security cover of central security forces to all the religious places and temples across the Kashmir Valley to protect them from attacks by the undesirable and anti-national elements," Zeashta Devi Prabandakh Committee President, Bharat Bhushan Bhat said to World Hindu News.
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Bhat added that Zeashta Devi Mandir has become a refuge for the Pandits who take shelter in the temple whenever there is unrest in the region.
Kashmiri Pandits. Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
The concerns of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community seem to have been heightened by the disturbances that ensued in the valley following the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani. Numerous incidents of vandalization and desecration of Hindu temples by Muslim miscreants have added to their woes. These include the recent attack on Mata Ragniya temple in Loktipura (Anantnag District) and Mata Trisupsundri temple Devsar (Kulgam District) in Kashmir, and an Aap Shambu Temple in Roop Nagar, Jammu.
Earlier this month, over 400 Kashmiri Pandits had also taken out a protest march condemning the BJP-PDP government for being unable to protect their shrines.
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"Government should be proactive in dealing with such incidents if it has to send a positive signal among the Kashmiri Pandit community," Bhat told the World Hindu News.
According to the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), a valley-based Kashmiri Pandit organisation, 887 temples and religious places/shrines existed before 1990. 738 of them were destroyed by 1995, reported Newslaundry.com.
– by Ashee Sharma of NewsGram
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