Rift Valley

All those clamouring for a permanent shrine at Amarnath should be stopped in their tracks post haste. Are they dumb, stupid, ignoramuses or what? Not only will it create an irreparable socio-religious rift in the valley - as if there aren't enough all ready- but also result in an unforseen and complete ecological disaster.

The Amarnath shrine has a certain mystiq about it precisely because of the unpredictability regarding the formation of the ice shiva lingam. It is nature's gift to the believers and should be left as such. The inacessability also adds to the aura. If soon we have Toyotas and Mahindras roaring up to the cave itself the idea of making a pilgrinmage through hardship and uncertainty will be lost. I have a feeling that someone is trying to do a Vaishnodevi to Amarnath. Vaishnodevi is a designer goddess, stage-managed and marketed to perfection with a twist in the tale that one doesn't have to shell out mullah as 'puja' a la Tirupathi or Jaggannath of Puri. Big deal that!

It is time,..... we are very late in fact, to raise the sane vioices. Appeasement of the vote-banks at the cost of individuals and society at large , should be done away with. The greater good should be held supreme. If there is one issue today that calls for a strict no- compromises- stance, it is this. How long are we going to pay for the machiavalian practices of the indian politicians who are always playing one community against another to achieve their very petty goals?