Tulmulla (J-K), Jun 3: Leaders across party lines on Tuesday hailed the congregation of devotees at the Mela Kheer Bhawani in Kashmir in the wake of the Pahalgam attack as a symbol of resilience and advocated for the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley.
Mela Kheer Bhawani, one of the biggest religious functions of Kashmiri Pandits, is being celebrated on ‘Zyeth Atham’, also known as ‘Jyeshtha Ashtami’, on Tuesday.
Amid tight security arrangements, hundreds of people, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, left for the Valley in a convoy of 60 buses early Sunday from Jammu to take part in the annual fair in Ganderbal district.
President of the ruling National Conference (NC), Farooq Abdullah, hoped that Kashmiri Pandits would return to the Valley as their presence at the Mela Kheer Bhawani in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack was “a befitting reply” to its perpetrators.
“This (presence of devotees at the mela) is a huge thing. This is Mata’s (temple deity) doing. She has called them here, to their homes,” Abdullah told reporters here after visiting the temple shrine during the annual mela.
“Fear among people is beginning to end. This is a befitting reply to those who want to end brotherhood in the hearts of the people,” Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said.
Abdullah said Kashmir is a place of “rishi-munis and sufis”, and the Kheer Bhawani Mela is part of this common faith.
He expressed hope that the mela would spark the Kashmiri Pandits’ return to their homeland.
“People come here for darshan, to pray for an end to their problems as well as the problems facing the country. We have also come here and hope the mela is the beginning of the return of our brothers and sisters so that they can live here.
“We have come here with the hope that Mata will bring them back home so that they live here comfortably,” he said.
NC alliance partner, the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, also asserted that the turnout at the mela was a befitting reply to the Pahalgam terror attack and shows how the people of Kashmir continue to believe in religious brotherhood.
“Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians all have come here. We have celebrated festivals together,” J-K Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra told reporters after offering prayers at the mela here.
He also highlighted the need to politically empower the Kashmiri Pandit community for their return to the Valley.
“We want Pandit brothers to return, but that cannot be achieved by just taking cosmetic measures,” Karra said.
Asserting that the Kashmiri Pandits need to be integrated in a “natural” manner, Karra said, “We have to give them political empowerment by reserving seats for them so that they can contest elections together with the people here. That is a natural way to get integrated, which is very necessary.”
Opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) said any political process in Jammu and Kashmir was incomplete without the dignified return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley.
“PDP believes that Jammu and Kashmir cannot be solved with guns. There is no military solution, and the gun of militants is also not a solution. There should be a political process,” she said.
“But that political process cannot be completed until our Kashmiri Pandit brothers and sisters return to Kashmir with due respect, settle here and play their role,” Mehbooba told reporters here.
The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir visited the temple of Mata Ragnya Devi, popularly known as Mata Kheer Bhawani, on the occasion of the annual mela.
Mehbooba had on Monday called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and submitted an “inclusive and phased roadmap” to facilitate the return of Kashmiri Pandits.
She had sought dignified return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, saying their reintegration must not be viewed merely as a symbolic return, but as an opportunity to build a shared, inclusive and forward-looking future for Jammu and Kashmir.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha described the large number of devotees attending the fair as a “good sign”, especially in light of the Pahalgam attack.
“The devotees have come in large numbers to attend the Mela Kheer Bhawani. This is a good sign, and this is the first time after April 22 that such a crowd has gathered at a place,” Sinha told reporters here after offering prayers at the Ragnya Devi temple here in Ganderbal district.
Welcoming the devotees, the LG assured that the administration has made good arrangements for the mela.
The mela is being held at five Ragnya Bhagwati shrines at Tulmulla in Ganderbal, Manzgam and Devsar in Kulgam, Logripora in Anantnag and Tikkar in Kupwara on Tuesday.
The revered temple of Ragnya Devi, nestled in the shade of mighty chinar trees, was decked up for festivities with thousands of devotees from across the country offering prayers.
A multi-layer security ring was thrown around the temple complex, situated around 25 km north-east of Srinagar, and along the routes for the Mela in the Valley, which is still reeling from the aftermath of the horrific Pahalgam attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists.
