JAMMU AND KASHMIR, July 9, 2003: The annual Amarnath pilgrimage got under way Wednesday morning amid confusion and chaos, as the first group of 3,500 devotees left for the Himalayan cave shrine from the Maulana Azad Memorial stadium. Charges of police harassment and protests by the pilgrims delayed the start by over two hours. The discontent against repeated frisking and police highhandedness climaxed in protest demonstrations in the stadium after registered pilgrims were stopped from boarding the buses headed towards Amarnath. Devotees who had come from all over the country complained that there was no arrangement for food and shelter inside the stadium and that there was only one water tap for everyone assembled. Deputy commissioner Pawan Kotwal said the pilgrims were not behaving in a “disciplined fashion and were causing problems.” Reacting to the allegations made by the pilgrims, he said they were “making unnecessary demands.”
The annual pilgrimage, which lasts over a month, concludes on Sharavn Purnima — the day Hindus celebrate as Raksha Bandhana, when brothers vow to protect their sisters. The journey to the Amarnath shrine in south Kashmir is arduous and includes a nearly 30-mile trek in the Himalayan heights through glaciers and high passes before reaching the cave.
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