My God is forgotten in Kashmir

My God is forgotten in Kashmir
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The Temple lies in a dilapidated condition in the village Nahama in District Kupwara in North Kashmir of District Kupwara. The Temple was built in 1977 by Kashmiri Pandits & was dedicated to Lord Shiva. However, after the exile of Kashmiri Pandits in 1989, the temple was no longer worshipped. Nobody is there to take care of it. According to locals, there was an idol of Lord Shiva in the temple & nearly 25 families of Kashmiri Pandits used to worship there in the past but after their exile the idol disappeared from the temple.

A Kashmiri Pandit, Jawahar Lal Pandita, once a resident of the village and while visiting says, "After our exile we have visited the valley many times. Till 2001, the temple was in a good condition as little damage was done to shrine. But after 2001, I found that some parts of temple were damaged; stones, bricks & timber were stolen and only the roof of the temple was left there."
The Nambardar of the village explained, "As the temple is located on the bank of a canal, during the floods of 2014, the overflow of canal hit some parts of temple which brought the temple down. Before this, in 2007 several trees were cut in the area and a tree fell on the temple damaging parts of it.
The president of Panun Kashmir ( Frontline Organisation of Kashmiri Pundits), Mr Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo told Democracy News Live that nearly 100 temples in Kashmir are in dilapidated condition and more than 200 are are non-functional. The Panun Kashmir has urged the state government multiple times to save ancient Hindu religious shrines in the Valley.
The Panun Kashmiri has drafted the Hindu temple & shrine bill for ensuring the maintenance and functioning of temples. When asked Mr Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo if he would like to return to Kashmir, he said,"Yes we want to return , but the return of the Kashmiri Pandits to the valley shall only be possible if concrete steps, are taken to ensure safe and dignified environment for us. Neither the State nor the central government has taken any concrete step in this direction. The ground situation in the Valley is going from bad to worse and no plausible solution seems to be in site in the near future. Under such circumstances the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley may remain to be a myth, for times to come."


Sajad Lone

Sajad Lone

Sajad Lone from North Kashmir, District kupwara. Graduate in mass.communication & multimedia production. Since 2015 I'm working with few local newspapers.


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