The Hindu : NCM for giving Kashmiris access to temple in PoK

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 11, 2004

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National

NCM for giving Kashmiris access to temple in PoK

NEW DELHI, FEB 10. At the confluence of river Kishanganga and Jhelum in PoK, lies Sharda temple, a famous learning centre of Kashmiris. But the irony is that the temple continues to remain in occupation of Pakistan since 1947 and the Kashmiris here have been denied access to it ever since.

However, the recent thaw in relations between the two neighbours has raised hopes among the Kashmiri Pandits of a pilgrimage to the sacred place and the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) too has requested the External Affairs Ministry to take up the issue with their Pakistani counterparts.

The temple is dedicated to goddess Saraswati and a pilgrimage to the shrine is on the lines of the annual pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib and Mansarovar.

Historians say this ancient shrine of learning and fountainhead of Kashmiri civilisational ethos is believed to be equivalent in importance to Shiva Lingam of Somnath, Vishnu of Taneshwar and Surya of Multan.

``We have written a letter to External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha to allow the Kashmiri Hindus to go on a pilgrimage to the Sharda temple in PoK,'' NCM Chairman Tarlochan Singh says.

Singh has urged the Minister to take up the case with the Pakistan government in the context of the changing situation and the possibility of resumption of bus services between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad.

NCM has suggested that to begin with, a group of 101 pilgrims from Kashmir Valley be allowed to go on a pilgrimage to the temple. ``This temple is identified by noted historians and chroniclers, including Al Beruni, who visited the place about 1000 years back,'' he says.

Singh says they had earlier also written to the MEA but were told that the issue would be taken up at an appropriate time with the Pakistani government. ``We think that the time has come because the bus service from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad across the LoC is also being started.''

``This gesture on the part of the government to allow pilgrimage to this temple, will be appreciated by the people. This will also strengthen the bonds of friendship between the people of Kashmir on both sides,'' Singh says.

However, he says the temple is in a dilapidated condition and needs to be renovated urgently.

The temple is so vital to Kashmiris that Kashmiri language has the script of Sharda, which is in a way similar to Devanagari, he says.

-- PTI

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