For The First Time In 31 Years, A Temple In Kashmir, Shut Due To Militancy, Opened For Prayers

Before they were driven out from their homes by terrorists, Kashmir was home to a large Hindu community - Kashmiri pandits.

In the decades since they were forced out, the community has been living across various parts of the country, and many, especially elders dream about one day going back to where they really belong to.

While it may be still a long way ahead, in what could be a sign of normalcy returning to the valley, a temple in Srinagar, which closed its doors for devotees 31 years ago due to militancy and outmigration of Hindus, was reopened on the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami.

ANI

Special pooja performed

Shital Nath Temple located in the Habba Kadal area of Srinagar reopened on Tuesday. A special 'pooja' was also performed by devotees at the temple.

Santosh Razadan, a devotee who came to offer prayers at the temple, said that they received huge support from locals especially those from the Muslim community for the reopening of the temple.

ANI

"Shital Nath temple reopened after 31 years. People used to come here before to offer prayers but it was closed due to militancy. Hindus residing near the temple had also left. Locals mostly belonging to the Muslim community helped us," she told ANI.

Ravinder Razdan, one of the organisers of the pooja conducted at Shital Nath temple, said people from the Muslim community provided much-needed support to us in this initiative and they even came forward to clean the temple.

ANI

"Our Muslim brother and sisters brought pooja items. We used to do this pooja every year. Baba Sheetal Nath Bhairao's birth anniversary falls on Basant Pachmit that is why we celebrate this day with fervour," Razdan said.

The opening of the Shital Nath Temple could lead to the resumption of prayers at many more Hindu shrines that have been remained shut due to the fear of attacks by extremists.

ANI

UPDATE

A Kashmir-based journalist has said that claims are not true.

He also posted the video of a Kashmir Pandit leader saying that the temple was open since 2011 and prayers used to happen there occasionally.

This prominent Kashmir Pandit , Sanjay Tikku, who is among those who have stayed put in the Vslley , denies the minister's claim and says the temple was reopened a decade ago. https://t.co/mo5Rlpojmn pic.twitter.com/RQKfZwApN4

¡ª Altaf Hussain (@ayhussain) February 17, 2021

Terrorist violence cases and stone-pelting incidents have dropped in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 that gave special status to the erstwhile state.

On February 8, Union Minister of State Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy had informed Rajya Sabha that the number of terrorist violence cases and stone-pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have reduced drastically in 2020 in comparison to 2019.

"A total of 157 terrorists were neutralised in 2019 and 221 were eliminated in 2020. There were 594 cases of terrorist violence in 2019, which reduced to 244 in 2020. There were 327 stone pelting incidents in 2020 as compared to 2,009 such incidents in 2019," he had said.