Our unity should be an answer to these fanatics who want to divide people on communal lines.
SRINAGAR: Hindu religious scholar and civil society member, Swami Agnivesh Wednesday has asked the people of Kashmir not to get carried away by what he said were the actions of a few religious zealots.
He also expressed happiness that majority of people of India restrained themselves from visiting Amarnath cave shrine this year, a local news agency, CNS reports.
The Amarnath pilgrimage to the cave of Hindu deity Lord Shiva in Kashmir Himalayas is one of the holiest for the Hindus of the counrty.
But he told the CNS that it has become “an epicenter for spreading abhorrence and hatred between two communities.”
Agnivesh said that it was high time that people of Kashmir and Jammu got united and defeated the “evil intentions and motives of a fanatic party and its right wing organizations.”
“Our unity should be an answer to these fanatics who want to divide people on communal lines. Communal parties should be told that people do not support their vicious policies and they should be shown the door,” he said.
He reiterated that Hindu fanatics are exploiting the sentiments of people over the name of Amarnath Yatra. “It is absolutely a superstition that wishes of people could fulfilled by visiting Amarnath Cave. People are being befooled while the only motive behind the Yatra is to assemble people, spread hatred and divide the two communities,” he said.
“After witnessing so much death and destruction at Kedarnath, we were hoping that Amarnath Yatra would be suspended but pilgrims for petty benefits were encouraged to visit the Cave which I feel is absolutely childish,” he said.
Agnivesh also said that the state government must take Village Defence Committees into account and should disband them if people prospose so.
“VDCs according to people are responsible for disharmony and the government must take appropriate steps either to curb the activities of VDC members or disband them,” he said.
