Soldiers with cameras mounted on helmets and assault rifles slung from shoulders line up along the serpentine road through the Valley. UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) whiz about, their cameras fixed on the road below, while more soldiers zip past on bikes. The road leads to the fabled Amarnath temple, where Lord Shiva is believed to have revealed the secrets of life to his consort Parvati. 바카라Security바카라 has been the buzzword for the annual Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir ever since the armed insurgency broke out in Kashmir in 1989, but security arrangements for this year바카라s pilgrimage that began on June 27 is unprecedented and mammoth.
Clearly, this is not about just a pilgrimage. It is also the BJP-led government at the Centre sending out a message to the party바카라s core voters ahead of the general elections next year. Coming just days after the BJP pulled out of its alliance with the PDP, accusing it of being 바카라soft on terror바카라, this yatra is loaded with more than the usual dose of political symbolism. A common view among Kashmiri leaders is that the BJP is deliberately projecting the yatra as being under threat from militants so it can later claim credit for having ensured pilgrims바카라 safety by beefing up security.
Besides Kashmiri separatist and mainstream leaders, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo too has announced that Amarnath pilgrims are 바카라guests in Kashmir바카라 and face no threat. Earlier, in a video widely circulated ahead of the 2016 yatra, the then Hizbul commander Burhan Wani said, 바카라We have no plan and will never attack pilgrims who arrive in Kashmir for Amarnath Yatra.바카라 Burhan was killed by government forces barely a month later, on July 8, 2016, triggering a spate of violent protests that raged for months across the Valley.
An army officer said camera-fitted helmets have been provided only four days ago for the yatra route, especially the Srinagar-Anantnag highway where eight pilgrims were killed and nearly 20 wounded in a militant attack last year. Connected with a hub at a nearby army camp, the cameras provide live coverage of the area through which the personnel move. 바카라Yesterday, we provided live recording of a road accident to the police,바카라 says a soldier.
Around 100 CCTV cameras with live web streaming have been installed on the traditional routes to the shrine located at an altitude of 13,000-feet. Vehicles carrying devotees have been fitted with radio-frequency identification tags, enabling security forces to keep track of their movements. Motorcycle squads will prevent yatra vehicles from straying from the main route.
The elite counter-terrorism force, National Security Guards (NSG), has also been deployed, to be flown to any place where they are needed. The personnel will also accompany Z-plus category VVIPs to the cave shrine. The force was first deployed in the Valley in 1989, when the then home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed바카라s daughter, Dr Rubaiya Sayeed, was held hostage by militants of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. However, the NSG was not put to use and five imprisoned Kashmiri militants were set free instead to secure her release.
This year, when former top cop K. Vijay Kumar, advisor to Governor N.N. Vohra, said the threat perception to the yatra could not be taken lightly, Kashmiri leaders described it as a malicious campaign and a 바카라calculated move aimed at maligning and discrediting a political struggle바카라. 바카라People in Kashmir are continuing with the age-old tradition of providing the best hospitality to pilgrims,바카라 says octogenarian Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani. 바카라They have always been friendly and generous to visitors, especially to Amarnath pilgrims.바카라
Describing the pilgrimage as a 바카라part of Kashmir바카라s ethos바카라, former minister and PDP leader Naeem Akhtar says 바카라the best security to the yatra comes from this ethos바카라, though it was 바카라violated by some mercenaries바카라 who attacked the yatra last year. 바카라Since 1990, the size of the yatra has been only increasing, and whenever any assistance was needed, Kashmiris were the first to come forward,바카라 says Akhtar.
Ahead of the yatra, at Srinagar바카라s Raj Bhavan, army chief General Bipin Rawat briefed defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman about the resumption of counter-insurgency operations in the Valley since the end of the Ramzan ceasefire.
By Naseer Ganai in Srinagar
