The Politics of Amarnath Yatra And Neglect of Public Transport
By Vidyadhar Date
07 August, 2012
Countercurrents.org
The recent Amarnath yatra in Kashmir attracted considerable attention because of the large number of pilgrims, nearly 630,000, and the high number of dead, 130. Many more were injured.
I was a non-religious participant in the yatra for a couple of days and embarked on it mainly because of my interest in walking and in Nature. The region is stunningly beautiful, no doubt. My impression about the high number of deaths is that these may be partly attributed to what could be called mistaken religious consciousness among pilgrims.
It is an extremely tough climb and descent through a very stony,cragged, slushy surface, and snow, wind and rain. But people insist on completing the journey because of pressure from others and it is thought to bring salvation. And the resultant excess exertion results in loss of life.
I gave up after a very hard initial climb of three km upto the first halt at Pishu Top. And I did not venture again, especially after I was caught in wind and rain. Discretion is the better part of valour, I thought. . And here comes the issue of questionable religious values. Many people looked upon me as some kind of a traitor or a sinner for giving up. They thought I should have taken a horse or gone by helicopter. But then what is the fun if you take a horse or a helicopter ? It is totally devoid of adventure and against the very spirit of a pilgrimage. Expenses apart, riding a horse is also quite tough on this terrain as one has to concentrate all the while on clinging to the horse, not falling down and then one can’t really savour the Nature on the way at all. Besides, the journey is very cruel to the horse and the mule. Nearly 126 horses or mules had been killed by July 26, a week before the end of the yatra, slipped into the deep gorge or died of other injuries. It is a pitiable sight seeing the horses and mules carrying the yatris or heavy baggage and goods. Besides, the horse riders create a class system on the narrow path. Often, the walker is treated as a second class human being.. And how does one square religiosity with playing black market prices for a helicopter ride that I kept hearing about when cancellations due to bad weather increased the demand for seats ?
The tough conditions of travel apart, the yatris are pretty well cared for in many ways. One has to see to believe the lavish spread of numerous delicacies and foods of all kinds, completely free of cost thanks to the charity of some groups, drawn mainly from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. There is everything from Idli and Dosa to aloo tikki, pulaos and kheers and halwa, and pakodas and dals and vegetables. I saw this at the base camp at Nunawan, near Pahalgam. It is heavily and jealously guarded by the CRPF, the para military Central Reserve Police Force. There are similar free feeds on the way to the cave shrine in what are known as bhandaras or langars.
There are good arrangements for stay in tents at Rs 125 per bed and I found towards the end of the yatra that the rate had fallen to just Rs 30. It is a big , bustling township with a good market with surprisingly reasonable prices and the sellers are all Kashmiri Muslims. It is surprising that there is so little first hand coverage of this significant though controversial event, in the media. Media reports rarely go beyond issues of deaths of pilgrims and security and weather conditions.
The other rarely reported story is that the condition for state bus transport at Srinagar is so pathetic which is shocking considering that it is such a prime tourist destination and gateway to the exotic Ladakh.
During my several visits to the Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) in Srinagar to get advance booking for Leh and Jammu , I found they just did not issue tickets in advance. A man at the counter sat in a broken chair without arms or back, issuing hand written paper tickets. There is no display of information about departures and arrivals, not even a tea stall and facilities for shelter and sanitation are less than primitive. Computerised tickets are out of question here. And this is the main transport hub of the city. The same is the scene at the Leh bus stand though here there are at least skeletons of steel benches bereft of seats. In Srinagar the total neglect of public transport greatly benefits private operators across the street who charge hefty amounts for taxies and other heavy vehicles like Sumos which are very rashly driven and do roaring business.
I found several Western and Indian tourists severely handicapped because the staff simply would not issue bus tickets in advance. They were told the tickets would be available on the day of journey but invariably they were not.
On the other hand rich tourists are pampered throroguhly in Kashmir as indeed elsewhere.. Hotel Lalit Grand Palace in Srinagar proudly organized a wedding function for a family costing Rs five crore or fifty million last month as reported by Greater Kashmir daily on July 24.
This happens here and elsewhere because the tourism machinery is geared to serve mainly rich tourists and does not care for ordinary people who are real travelers . This includes so many foreigners who I found to be truly adventurous. On my way to Leh I saw a middle aged European lady get down from the bus in the middle of the mountain desert in a no man’s land. Later, I found that she was to go to a Buddhist cave monastery in the region. Such low budget , serious travelers are severely handicapped by lack of basic amenities on the way, bus drivers all over are notorious for not stopping for hours even for a break for a pee. In the bus to Leh several foreigners got in on the way, sat in the cabin with the driver, each paid Rs 200 and were not issued a ticket which seems to be a regular practice. The conductor pockets it all.
In the Pahalgam tourism office no written information of any kind was available though surprisingly they had some very good books on Kashmir in two cupboards though these were suitably locked.
No wonder genuine tourism and tourists suffer. Very close to the Nunawan base camp of the yatra near Pahalgam is an ancient Shiva temple which I came to visit by chance. There was not a single visitor and the place was remarkably tranquil. The best part was the wonderful drinking water that came out of a spring below the temple. Similarly, there were no tourists at Srinagar’s most outstanding wood architecture site, the shrine of Shahi Hamadan on the bank of the river Jhelum. Very few people in Srinagar itself knew about the location of the shrine. The Nunawan base camp has a beautiful location next to the Lidder river and with a lovely view of snow clad mountains. The Amarnath yatra is politically controversial. But it does provide some employment to Kashmiri people and it may not be naïve to expect that it could with some effort help create a better bond between the visitors and the Kashmiri people. I found most Kashmiri people very friendly. It is also necessary to promote hill climbing and trekking in other parts of the country. In Maharashtra the Sahyadri hills are being ravaged by real estate developers in league with corrupt politicians. These politicians constantly evoke the name of Shivaji but they are betraying the Shivaji mantle by wrecking the land i. If people assert their right to trek in these areas, they could reclaim the land . Otherwise, a great natural heritage will be lost to anti-social builders, developers and greedy politicians.
The Amarnath yatra’s impact on the environment has drawn considerable attention. But then there is a scope to improve the environment all over Kashmir which is being degraded by unchecked development. In Srinagar I saw on two days in my early morning walks that garbage including plastic bags was being openly burnt. Burning plastic is the worst thing that can happen to health and environment.
Vidyadhar Date is a senior journalist, avid walker and author of the book Traffic in the era of climate change - walking, cycling and public transport need priority. Email [email protected]
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