SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday described the annual Amarnath Yatra as more than a pilgrimage, calling it an opportunity for Kashmiris to confront hatred, misinformation and mistrust through warmth, service and direct human engagement.
Speaking in Pahalgam, the traditional base camp of the journey to the cave-shrine of Lord Shiva in the south Kashmir Himalayas, Mufti urged the people of the Valley to ensure that every pilgrim returns home with positive memories of Kashmir and its people. She said every visitor should be treated not merely as a yatri, but as a guest and a potential ambassador who can carry an authentic account of Kashmir to different parts of the country.
The Amarnath Yatra this year is scheduled to begin on July 3 and conclude on August 28, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan. The 57-day pilgrimage is expected to draw devotees from across the country and abroad through the traditional Pahalgam route and the shorter Baltal route, making the conduct of the yatra a major religious, administrative and social exercise.
Mufti said the way pilgrims are received in Kashmir can play a meaningful role in challenging negative perceptions about the Valley. At a time when, according to her, prejudice against Muslims and particularly Kashmiri Muslims is being amplified in different parts of the country, she argued that people-to-people contact remains the most powerful answer.
“Every pilgrim who visits us is a guest of Kashmir. They carry the story of our land, our people and our values to every corner of India. It is our responsibility to ensure they leave with memories of our love, warmth and hospitality,” she said.
Calling for wider public participation, Mufti said Kashmiris should take the initiative “into their own hands” and turn tourism and travel into a peaceful civic movement. Invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of Satyagraha, she said people should respond to hostility not with bitterness but with openness, care and moral courage.
“Start a Satyagraha, as Gandhi did at that time, against casteism and against the British. Similarly, our people should also engage in Satyagraha through tourism, through travel,” she said, urging locals to take special care of those who come to Kashmir as guests and to speak to them honestly about the difficulties faced by the people of the Valley.
Mufti said such engagement could help pilgrims become “ambassadors” of Kashmir in the rest of the country. “Take such good care of them, open your hearts to them about our difficulties, so that they can become our ambassadors to the country and tell them about the hatred being spread against Muslims, especially against Kashmiri Muslims,” she said.
She added that genuine hospitality could produce a wider moral and political impact. “A revolution will come in the country. This hatred, this Islamophobia, will lessen, and second, it will also force the central government to act,” Mufti said.
The former chief minister also said safeguarding the pilgrimage should not be viewed only through the lens of official security arrangements. She maintained that the true strength of the yatra lies in the participation and goodwill of local communities, especially those living along the pilgrimage route.
“This atmosphere of terror should end, and our people should provide them so much security that the central government should realise that there is no need for the army in Jammu and Kashmir,” she said, adding that it would be a welcome step if the Army were withdrawn from civilian areas.
“When the people here can protect the travellers, they can also protect their own people,” Mufti said, underlining her argument that public ownership of peace and hospitality can help rebuild trust within and beyond J&K.
The PDP chief said Kashmir’s long tradition of welcoming Amarnath pilgrims must continue with the same sincerity and dignity. She stressed that the yatra offers not only a spiritual passage for devotees but also a rare opening for dialogue, empathy and the restoration of confidence at a time when Kashmir’s tourism economy and social image remain deeply sensitive issues.
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