Hindus began a vast month-long pilgrimage in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK) on Thursday, with many of the faithful starting from near the site where a deadly April attack triggered conflict with Pakistan. Last year, half a million devotees took part in the Amarnath pilgrimage to a sacred ice pillar located in a cave in the forested Himalayan hills above the town of Pahalgam.

India has ramped up security for the event, deploying 45,000 troops with high-tech surveillance tools overseeing the gruelling trek to reach the high-altitude cave, dedicated to the Hindu deity of destruction Shiva.“We have multi-layered and in-depth security arrangements so that we can make the pilgrimage safe and smooth for the devotees,” said VK Birdi, police chief for the Muslim-majority territory.Pahalgam is the site where gunmen on April 22 killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists.

New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which strongly denied the allegations while calling for a neutral investigation, triggering a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic measures that escalated into a four-day conflict. On May 7, Pakistan shot down six Indian jets after they bombed sites across the border, setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery that killed dozens until a ceasefire on May 10.

It was the worst standoff by the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with more than 70 people killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides.But pilgrim Muneshwar Das Shashtri, who travelled from Uttar Pradesh state, told AFP that “there is no fear of any kind”. “Our army is standing guard everywhere. No one can raise a finger towards us,” he said.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)