The annual Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir’s Himalayas started on June 30 after a hiatus of three years. The government had abandoned the pilgrimage in 2019 in anticipation of troubles after the abrogation of Article 370. The yatra is being conducted amid unprecedented security measures in view of the looming terror threat. The Resistance Front (TRF), a little-known outfit that came up on the militant landscape after August 2019 (believed to be an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Toiba), has threatened to “spill blood” during the yatra.
For years now, thousands of Hindu pilgrims have taken the journey to the cave shrine located at 12,500 feet above sea level. Pilgrims trek 2-3 days through the mountain passages by foot or palanquin or ponies to get a glimpse of the ice stalagmite of Lord Shiva. The shrine can be approached through two routes, via Baltal in Sonamarg and Pahalgam in south Kashmir. This year's yatra is expected to be the “biggest in the history of J&K” with an estimated 6-8 lakh pilgrims attending.
This is the first yatra after the Narendra Modi government’s ‘integration move’ to downsize J&K into two Union territories, so the pilgrimage will be a major challenge for the security forces, especially as there has been a spate of targeted attacks on Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus in the Valley. The victims include school teacher Rajni Bala of Jammu, bank manager Vijay Beniwal from Rajasthan and a brick kiln worker Dilkhush of Bihar, taking the total count of targeted killings to 19 this year.
A senior police officer told India Today that strict security measures are in place including checkpoints and barricades all along the route to the cave shrine. "Every year, there are inputs about attacks but this year it’s more than that. That is why we are taking extra measures to plug any loopholes," he says. Any attack, of course, will have multiple repercussions, including triggering a backlash outside Kashmir and the disruption of the yatra. This is why security deployments are “four times” more than in previous years; some 500 companies of additional security forces of the BSF, CRPF, ITBP and SSB have been brought into Jammu and Kashmir.
On June 27, in the last security huddle of police and security forces before the start of the 43-day yatra, Kashmir inspector general of police (IGP) Vijay Kumar insisted on strengthening the intelligence grid and action against overground militants to neutralise any possible threats. The meeting also chalked out strategies to deal with the threat from sticky bombs, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades and drone attacks. Surveillance through drones and CCTVs has been stepped up to counter the perceived threat.
The threat of sticky bombs has especially worried the J&K police after a bus carrying pilgrims to Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu’s Katra was targeted using the device last month; four pilgrims were killed in the attack. On May 29, a North Korean-made hexacopter drone carrying a payload of seven sticky bombs and an equal number of UBGLs (under barrel grenade launchers) was intercepted in Kathua. In view of this, the police are focusing on parking of vehicles and drivers have been told to check vehicles and not to leave them unattended for long periods of time. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags and special stickers have been assigned to vehicles carrying pilgrims to track them.
In the meantime, Kashmir divisional commissioner Pandurang Kondbarao Pole says he expects the Amarnath Yatra to bring considerable economic dividends to Jammu and Kashmir. The pilgrimage, according to him, will generate nearly Rs 3,000 crore, boosting the local economy.
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