After 32 years, Kashmiri Pandits celebrated ‘Navreh’ in their homeland Kashmir
Highlight
- Kashmiri Pandits celebrate ‘Navreh’ (New Year) festival on the banks of Dal Lake
- Kashmiri Pandits offer special worship at Mata Sharika Devi Temple
- People expressed confidence in the positive steps taken by the administration and the government
For the first time after 32 years of leaving the Kashmir Valley, Kashmiri Pandits celebrated the ‘Navreh’ (New Year) festival on the banks of the Dal Lake in the city of Srinagar. Navreh is the first day of the new year according to the Kashmiri Pandit calendar.
Kashmiri Pandits offer special prayers at Mata Sharika Devi Temple. The temple is situated on a hill called ‘Hari Parvat’ in the heart of the old city of Srinagar. Before their exodus, local pundits used to celebrate the beginning of the new year at this temple.
Those who attended the function said that the situation in the Valley has improved in the last few years. The number of terrorist incidents has also come down. People expressed confidence in the positive steps taken by the administration and the government and hoped to return to their homeland.
On this occasion a local Kashmiri Pandit from Habba Kadal area of old Srinagar spoke to India TV. “My soul lives in the valley, this is my country and I have never left Kashmir, even though my parents were killed during the exodus in 1990,” he said. He said, “I have been praying in this temple for the last 32 years but today I feel that Kashmir is changing. Today many people have gathered in the temple.”
The Supreme Court had in 2017 dismissed a petition seeking a probe into the alleged mass murder of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley in 1989-1990. Later it also dismissed the review petition filed in the case. Recently a film ‘The Kashmir Files’ was made on this subject. Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Zee Studios, the film depicts the killings and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s.
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