Congress asks Shrine Board Authorities to  respect the religious sentiments and sanctity of Vaishno Devi Yatra

Jammu, Feb. 12 : Congress has asked Shrine Board authorities to respect the religions sentiments and sanctity of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Yatra while under taking the developmental and other activities at the holy township of Katra.

In a party statement, JKPCC Working President Raman Bhalla and Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma have said that people of Katra are protesting against the policies and activities of the authorities which are contrary to the religious sentiments and sanctity of  the yatra besides to deprive the poor people of their livelihood.

They said that lacs of families are depend upon the holy yatra, through out the year. A large number of labour class and poor  service providers are the backbone of the yatra and solely dependent  upon the earnings out of hard labour.

They said that apart from developmental aspects, there is religious importance, history and sanctity of the yatra through the traditional route, which needs to be maintained. While the prime duty of the Shrine Board is to create facilities for the smooth conduct of holy yatra but it can’t ignore the aspect of livelihood, the historical religious aspects of the sanctity of the yatra. The stakeholder were assured that any such activity shall be undertaken only after taking them on board but that has not happened and people are agitated a lot. They also criticized the BJP for the role being played by some of their leaders and questioned the silence of the party over the sensitive issue involving  religious sentiments of Hindus.

The party has asked the authorities to resolve the controversy by taking into account the genuine concerns of the local population and all stake holders.