Katra/Jammu: Members of the Baridar community staged a protest on Saturday against the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), demanding an impartial investigation into the recent landslide on the old route to the temple in Reasi district, which claimed 34 lives and injured 20 pilgrims.
The Vaishno Devi pilgrimage remained suspended for the fifth consecutive day, leaving hundreds of devotees stranded in Katra, which has been cut off by road and rail following record rainfall in the region.
The Baridar community comprises families of priests historically associated with the Vaishno Devi shrine.
Carrying black flags and raising slogans against the shrine board, a large group of Baridars marched through the streets, demanding the board be reconstituted to include two members from their community, in addition to the local MLA and MP.
“We observe August 30 as a black day to protest the shrine board’s formation and to assert our rights. On this day in 1986, then-Governor Jagmohan forcefully took control of the shrine and displaced us,” said Sham Singh, president of the Baridar Sangarsh Samiti.
Singh blamed the shrine board for the recent tragedy, rejecting the probe ordered by board chairman and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
“The probe, assigned to three senior officers, appears intended to suppress the case. The government must order an impartial investigation to clarify why pilgrims were on the track when the Yatra was supposedly suspended. In reality, the Yatra was only suspended after the tragedy,” Singh claimed.
Referring to a stampede at the shrine on January 1, 2022, which killed 12 pilgrims and injured 15, Singh added that the findings of that investigation by the SMVDSB chairman have still not been made public.
“The Baridar community was removed from the shrine under the pretext of mismanagement, despite serving the Yatra for centuries. The shrine board, which has turned the pilgrimage into a commercial enterprise, must be held accountable for not halting the Yatra despite weather warnings,” he said.
Singh urged the Prime Minister to intervene to restore the rights of the Baridar community and stressed the need to reconstitute the shrine board with two members from the community, one representative from Katra town, the local MLA, and the MP to ensure its smooth functioning.
