SRINAGAR: In an attempt to clear the confusion over the Amarnath Shiv lingam, the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), Lt. Gen. (Retd.) S.K. Sinha, on Thursday ordered a judicial inquiry into the issue by a retired High Court judge.

SASB spokesman Madan Mantoo told The Hindu that in consultation with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mr. Sinha, in his capacity as SASB chairman, ordered the probe into the allegations, inter alia, that the lingam in the holy Amarnath cave was tampered with.

Justice (Retd.) K.K. Gupta would hold the inquiry and submit his report to the Board within a month, Mr. Mantoo said.

He said the step followed the recommendations in a preliminary inquiry report by the Chief Executive Officer, SASB, on the complaints received from several quarters with regard to allegations of piling snow in the sanctum sanctorum.

The charges of the lingam being man-made had led to an outcry from devotees. Letters were written to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and to the Central Government to order an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Mahant Deepinder Giri, custodian of the holy mace of Lord Shiva at the shrine, earlier this month sought a judicial probe to bring out the truth, saying that if the lingam was indeed man-made, it was a sacrilegious act. He was against extending the yatra.

This year's pilgrimage began on June 11 and will continue till August 9. So far, over 1 lakh pilgrims have paid homage at the shrine, and are now on their way back to the base camps in Jammu.

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