After Kartarpur, demand grows for Sharda Peeth corridor to PoK
More than 200 Kashmiri Pandits took out a protest march in the city of Anantnag yesterday demanding that a passage on the lines of the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikhs be opened to facilitate devotees to visit the Sharda Devi temple in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Kashmiri Pandits held placards and raised slogans in support of reopening the passage to PoK. Read more.
Sharda Peeth: One of the highly revered temples in South-Asia
Sharda Peeth is an abandoned temple in Sharda village along the Neelam river across LoC. It's regarded as one of the 18 highly-revered temples in South Asia. The protesters, under the banner of All Party Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC), demanded that the Sharda Peeth corridor between Neelam Valley in PoK and Teetwal in north Kashmir be reopened on the lines of the Kartarpur Corridor.
Kartarpur Corridor construction to be finished in five months
India and Pakistan laid the foundation stones of the Kartarpur corridor on their respective sides last week. The construction of the corridor is expected to be complete in five months, facilitating the visit of Indian Sikh pilgrims to the 16th-century gurdwara in Kartarpur in Pakistan.
Believers blame negligence of Sharda Mata for mayhem in Kashmir
Meanwhile, individuals like Sunny Raina, Vessu Transit KP Colony president, have been pressing for an early opening of a Sharda Peeth corridor. Joining him, Ranjan Jyotshi, Mattan KP Colony president, said, "We've been waiting anxiously for 70 years. Kashmiri pandits have an immense belief that whatever bloodshed or mayhem is in Kashmir nowadays is due to the neglect of their presiding deity Sharda Mata."
