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Pilgrimage put off

NEW DELHI: The Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage this year has been postponed by nearly two weeks after China said it would be unable to receive the pilgrims due to “domestic reasons.”

The yatra traditionally begins from June 1. The government is trying to accommodate the first two batches of pilgrims, who will be affected by the postponement, in the subsequent groups. Both Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar lake are in China.

As many as 16 batches of about 60 pilgrims each were to take part in the yatra which was to last till September 24. One batch takes 26 days to undertake the pilgrimage.

“The annual Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage for 2008 was scheduled to begin on June 1. The government of China conveyed to the Ministry of External Affairs that on account of domestic reasons, it will not be in a position to receive pilgrims before June 21,” said a Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson in response to a question.

“In view of this, the MEA had to cancel the batch numbers one and two. The Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage for 2008 will now commence from the batch number three which is scheduled to depart New Delhi on June 13. The Ministry is continuing its efforts with the China to accommodate the pilgrims of the batch numbers one and two in later batches,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said the party was upset that the yatra had been postponed.

He said it was a “question of our faith” and the Indian government must take up with China at a “high level” the issue.

“We are worried. The Chinese government has not indicated the reasons for the postponement,” he said. “The country needs to know the reason for the postponement. If there were compelling reasons for the delay, the people must be told,” he said.

Even though some reporters reminded Mr. Prasad that China had recently had an earthquake resulting in the loss of thousands of lives, Mr. Prasad suggested that this reason must be spelt out.

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