Migrant Pandits pay obeisance at Kheer Bhawani Shrine

Nearly 10,000 migrant Kashmiri Pandits on Tuesday gathered for the annual fair at the Kheer Bhawani shrine in Ganderbal district of north Kashmir.

Men, women and children members of the local Pandit community thronged the Tullamula village to pay obeisance at the Kashmiri Pandits' holiest shrine dedicated to Goddess Ragyna.

The devotees offered traditional milk preparation 'Kheer' and floral tributes at the Shrine while praying for peace and prosperity.

Many local Muslims in Tullamula village came out to greet their Pandit brothers, keeping alive the centuries old tradition of amity and brotherhood between different communities in Kashmir.

Vijay Kumar Koul, a retired headmaster, lived in the densely populated Habba Kadal locality of old Srinagar city before he was forced by separatist violence to migrate out of the Kashmir Valley along with his family in early 1990s.

Koul feels different governments in the state since 1990 have done little for the return of the Pandit community to the valley.

"Our community has become a good talking point in television debates for various governments since we left the valley. Nobody is interested seriously either in our return or welfare," he said.

Ravinder Kumar, 24, is an MBA student and has come to the Shrine with his parents and grandparents.

"I was hardly one or two years old when my family left the valley. I have no memories to seek my return to the land of my ancestors....Yes, my grandparents feel very passionately about their days in the valley and would like to return if possible," he said.

"But, I believe any attempt to facilitate or try for our return would be looking for another migration of the community that has now settled permanently outside Kashmir," Ravinder told IANS.

The state government has made adequate arrangements of security, healthcare etc. for the devotees at the shrine.

Governor N.N. Vohra and state Law Minister Basharat Bukhari were among the devotees who paid obeisance at the Shrine and prayed for peace on Tuesday.

The state government has declared a holiday in the valley on Tuesday for the festival.