J&Ok principal secretary, govt officers go to Amarnath shrine for ‘puja’ days after Yatra is named off

Jammu and Kashmir principal secretary Nitishwar Kumar and some different bureaucrats carried out the “pratham puja” on the Amarnath shrine on Thursday barely 3 days after Lt Governor Manoj Sinha referred to as off the “yatra” for most people holding the present Covid-19 scenario in thoughts.
Nitishwar Kumar, who was seen on the shrine along with his spouse and youngsters, additionally occurs to be the chief government officer of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. Other officers current for the ceremony embrace extra CEO of the Shrine Board Anup Kumar Soni and his spouse, deputy commissioner Ganderbal Krittika Jyotsna and her husband Rahul Pandey, who can be the director of knowledge and public Relations.
Apart from authorities officers, the nationwide joint basic secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Dr Surendra Jain, its J&Ok working president Rajesh Gupta and his spouse, and Baba Budha Amarnath Yatra Nyas leaders Shakti Dutt Sharma, Karan Singh and Sudershan Khajuria have been additionally current.
All of them flew to the shrine in helicopter sorties employed by the Shrine Board from Neelgrath helipad close to Baltal in Sonamarg.
Additional CEO of the Shrine Board, Anup Kumar Soni, mentioned it was an official perform and denied that officers have been accompanied by members of the family He added that Krittika Jyotsna and her husband Rahul Pandey have been current of their official capacities. “My children were not there,” he knowledgeable. However, he clarified that his spouse went together with him because the Shrine Board had invited a number of members on the event.

Speaking in regards to the ceremony, a VHP chief knowledgeable that there had been an settlement between the federal government and Shri Amarnath Sangarsh Samiti after the 2009 agitation that some leaders of the VHP and Baba Budha Amarnath Yatra Nyas shall be allowed for the “pratham puja” on the shrine. “Except for 2018, the ceremony was being held at places other than the shrine. However, this time, we insisted that it shall be organized at the shrine,” he added.
Senior Advocate Leela Karan Sharma, who led the 2009 Amarnath agitation, nonetheless, denied that there had been any written settlement about it with the federal government though the Shrine Board had been inviting VHP and Nyas leaders for the puja yearly since 2010.
The idea of “pratham puja” at Amarnath shrine was began by erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State Governor retired Lt General S Ok Sinha in 2004.