Jammu: The VHP on Friday said that it will
start the two-month long Amarnath yatra on its scheduled date
of June 15 instead of June 29 as announced by Jammu and
Kashmir Governor N N Vohra.
"We will start the two-month long Amarnath yatra from
June 15 as per the traditional calander. We will not abide by
the announcement of the state Governor to start the yatra from
June 29," International General Secretary Parveen Bhai Togdia
told reporters here today.
"Who is the Governor (Chairman of Shri Amarnath Shrine
Board) to decide date and periodicity of the yatra. The date
of the yatra should always be left to Hindu priests," Togadia
said.
Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) should only take
care of the arrangements and other infrastructural needs of
the pilgrimage and decision of commencement and periodicity of
the yatra should be left to priests and religious leaders of
Hinduism, he said.
"Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that the
government has no problem in providing security for the yatra
even for two months, then what is the problem with the
Governor?," he said.
Togadia, who has arrived on a two-day visit to Jammu
and Kashmir yesterday, said "The Governor and the Board should
rectify their decision of the yatra curtailment."
The Shrine Board had decided to start the yatra from
June 29 and conclude it on August 13, on the day of Raksha
Bandhan.
Replying to the questions that if government will not
allow them to go ahead with the yatra on June 15, he said, "We
will start the yatra on June 15 at all cost and in all
circumstances. We, therefore, warn the Board and government to
rectify the yatra curtailment decision immediately."
"The Governor will be responsible for the consequences
if we are not allowed to go ahead with the yatra," he said.
"If the government cannot provide the security to the
yatra for fifteen days, we will bring one lakh Bajrang Dal
activists from outside the state to provide security to the
yatra," he said.
PTI
