By Xinhua,
SRINAGAR, India-controlled Kashmir : Authorities in India-controlled Kashmir have decided to renew a controversial annual Hindu pilgrimage, the Amarnath pilgrimage, from next month.
The trek to the 3,880-metre high Hindu cave shrine to the south of Srinagar, the summer capital of region, will begin on June 7, said officials on Tuesday.
The officials said that all the security arrangements and facilities would be put in place to ensure smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.
Last year, the pilgrimage triggered last-scale protests by Muslims in the region, leading to the death of some 60 people.
The pilgrimage would be conducted by a newly constituted board headed by New Delhi’s appointed Governor of the region, N. N. Vohra, said the officials.
Environmental groups have been accusing previous board of playing havoc with the fragile environment en route the holy cave by increasing flow of pilgrims and increasing the duration of pilgrimage from 15 days to two months.
In 2000, Amarnath pilgrimage resulted in a massacre of 30 people, mostly Hindu pilgrims, by terrorists.