The Hindu : Militants no longer deter pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 05, 2003

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Militants no longer deter pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi

By Our Staff Reporter

Katra (Udhampur) Jan. 4. Though there was a decline in the number of pilgrims to the Vashino Devi shrine following the first attack on the Raghunath Temple in March last, the recent terrorist strikes in the Jammu region have failed to deter the spirit of pilgrims who are thronging the shrine in large numbers.

In the last ten years, there has been a steep rise in the number of pilgrims.

It exceeded 50 lakhs in the last three-four years and the economy in the Jammu region received a boost.

So much so that it became dependent on the pilgrim influx.

Hotels mushroomed and new business outlets came up in Katra town.

But the March 30 terrorist strike at the Raghunath Temple and the May 14 attack on the Kaluchak Army camp had an adverse impact on the number of pilgrims. In April, it declined from 5,11,081 to 4,18,393.

The border standoff between India and Pakistan and the possibility of a war also had a disastrous effect.

In June, the number of pilgrims declined to 4,66,899 against 7,04,657 pilgrims in 2001.

But recovery started in August.

The number rose to 5,17,371.

On October 2, militants blew up a Katra-bound bus but this failed to deter the pilgrims.

Even after the attack on the two temples in Jammu on November 24, as many as 7,15,449 pilgrims visited the Vashino Devi shrine in November and December — the figures were much higher than those of 2001 during the corresponding period.

"People have become shock-proof now," according to Rohit Hira, a hotelier.

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