Kashmir Government to not allow ‘Abhinavgupt Yatra’

The Jammu and Kashmir government has said it would not grant permission for the “Abhinavgupt Yatra” in central Kashmir’s Budgam area. The moves comes after villagers in central Kashmir and separatist outfits objected to the yatra, saying it had no historical background, and alleged that it was a ploy of RSS-backed outfits. BJP legislators in the Upper House created an uproar on Friday, saying that disallowing the yatra was

an interference in religious matters. State Education Minister and the PDP-BJP government’s spokesperson Nayeem Akthar said the government has not received any formal request from the organisers. “The government is clear that it will not allow any yatra that has no historical or traditional background,” he said. Recently, the Acharya Abhinavgupt Sheshadri Samaroh Samiti had announced that they would organise a yatra in central Kashmir’s Berwah area. They claimed that Abhinavgupt, a philosopher and mystic, had meditated in a cave in the area. Members of the Samiti, it is learnt, met several Kashmiri Pandits living in the Valley and migrant camps and sought their participation in the yatra. While this is the first time that the Samiti has planned to bring out the yatra, sources said they intend to make it an annual affair.