Amarnath Yatra suspended amid high-level political huddles in Delhi

The Amarnath Yatra 2025 was suspended as the Jammu admin withdrew officials, coinciding with heightened political activity and key meetings in New Delhi

Amarnath Yatra 2025 was officially suspended late on Monday, with the Jammu district administration relieving all officers and officials deployed at key Facilitation Centres in the city. The move comes amid heightened political activity in New Delhi and specualtion around the possible restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

 

An order issued by the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, directed immediate withdrawal of staff from the Base Camp at Yatri Niwas (Bhagwati Nagar), Ram Mandir (Purani Mandi), and Geeta Bhawan (Parade). Officers have been instructed to return to their original postings for regular duty.

 

The suspension follows the annual yatra’s high footfall this year and coincides with a surge in political meetings in the national capital. President Droupadi Murmu recently held back-to-back meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, sparking speculation about a significant political development in the Union Territory.

 

Shah has also met with senior leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, including the BJP chief of the erstwhile state. Significantly, this (August 5) is the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. In 2019, J&K was stripped of its statehood.

 

The timing of the yatra’s formal suspension has only added fuel to speculation that a major announcement on J&K’s political future could be imminent. 

'Heavy rainfall caused damage, hindered yatra'

It is important to mention here that on Saturday (August 2), local authorities called off this year’s Amarnath Yatra ahead of schedule, citing extensive damage caused by recent heavy rainfall. The pilgrimage, which began on July 3 and was originally set to conclude on 9 August (Raksha Bandhan), was suspended from August 3 to allow for urgent repairs.

 

"Due to recent heavy rainfall and the need for track maintenance along both the Baltal and Pahalgam axes of the Shri Amarnathji Yatra route, the yatra movement has been closed on both the tracks," said Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri.

 

He added, "It has been observed that due to the continued deployment of men and machinery on the tracks from tomorrow, we would not be able to resume the yatra. The yatra will therefore remain suspended from August 3 onwards from both the routes."

 

This year, over 410,000 devotees undertook the pilgrimage to the sacred cave, a decline from last year’s figure of more than 510,000.