The 43-day-long ‘Machail Mata Yatra’ in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir was suspended on Saturday due to security reasons, officials said. Authorities have asked people not to start the yatra and those on the way should leave and get back.
“The yatra has been suspended with immediate effect due to security reasons,” Deputy Commissioner of Kishtwar Angrez Singh Rana told PTI . The yatra commenced on July 25 and was scheduled to end on September 5.
Thousands of devotees from across the country visit the scenic Paddar valley, also famous for its sapphire mines, during the yatra and pay obeisance at the holy shrine of goddess Durga in Machail village of Kishtwar after trekking a 30-km arduous route.
Kishtwar, which was declared terrorism-free over a decade ago, was rattled by the killing of state secretary of BJP Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet Parihar on November 1 last year, followed by assassination of senior RSS leader Chanderkant Sharma and his security guard inside a health centre on April 9. The annual Amarnath Yatra has already been suspended due to security reasons.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.