SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, February 21, 2020 (Millennium Post): Overlooking Srinagar is Hari Parbat, a hill home to a fort, a temple, a gurdwara and a dargah. The temple here is dedicated to Jagdamba Sharika Bhagwati, considered the presiding Deity of Srinagar. Rolled-up concertina wires lie on the long flight of stairs leading up to the temple. A CRPF jawan proffers a register, where one must note down their name and phone number before entering the temple. Inside, on the afternoon of February 16, around 10-15 people are busy with kirtan. It is a few days before Shivaratri, and the temple is gearing up for the festival. “Had you come here this time of the year in the 1980s, you wouldn’t have space for one sesame seed on the ground, so crowded would the courtyard have been. Had you come in the early 90s, you wouldn’t have found anyone,” says Virendra Koul, a retired government employee.
And today? “Oh, things are better. You see this gathering in the temple. We aren’t fearful of living our normal lives anymore. Over the years, a few pandits have come back, some because of the government’s rehabilitation package, some because the situation improved,” says Koul. “Till late 1980s, everyone lived in harmony. And then suddenly, we had little children on the streets chanting slogans of a Muslim empire. I have heard with my own ears, announcements from mosques saying Kashmir would have Muslim rule. People fled leaving behind homes, properties worth millions of dollars. Then, as the Hindus left, I watched Kashmir change. This temple, and the others you see open, survived because of the Armed Forces. We got used to praying in the shadow of guns.” Then his voice softens. “But you know what, there is another, undeniable truth — the Hindus who stayed back survived because of their Muslim neighbors. When a Hindu died, Muslims made all efforts to arrange his funeral, often at personal risk.”
More of this account at “source”.