People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has reportedly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to reopen the pilgrimage route to Sharda Peeth temple, a holy site for Kashmiri Pandits, in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Mufti’s letter comes after the foundation stone to the Kartarpur Sahib corridor were laid across the border, in Amritsar and Ferozpur.
Party President @MehboobaMufti wrote a letter to PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/K3v1wQbYY0
— Aijaz Ahmad Mir (@MirAijaz89) December 1, 2018
Stating that Sharda Peeth temple is an “outstanding relic of Kashmir’s glowing history”, Mufti said, “…For the Kashmiri Pandits it is an important place of pilgrimage which was frequented by them till independence.” Stating that Kashmiri Pandits’ urge to reopen the pilgrimage had “projected ever since the reopening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, she added, “…Kartarpur has encouraged to see a possibility of the pilgrimage to Sharda Peeth in the same spirit.”
Mufti also says in her letter that the belief of Kashmiri Pandits had been bolstered by the “reported offer” of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to allow a pilgrimage to Sharda Peeth along with “pilgrimage to Katas Raj.”
Concluding her letter, the former J&K chief minister said that although the potential reopening of pilgrimage to Sharda Peeth would be a “measure specific” to the Pandit community, it would be welcome by every citizen of the state. “…would considerably help in addressing the feeling of despondency in a major section of the population. It would fit in very well with the vision of pulling J&K out of its miseries through diplomatic and political means away from death and destruction we witness with unending regularity,” emphasises Mufti.
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