STATE TIMES NEWS
KATRA: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah joined ‘Aarti’ (special prayers) at the revered Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district on Tuesday evening.
Abdullah was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Satish Sharma, grandsons Zamir and Zahir and several senior leaders of National Conference.
The former chief minister reached Katra, the base camp for pilgrims visiting the famous shrine, on board the specially designed Vande Bharat train from Srinagar this morning, his first trip after the inauguration of the service by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6.
“Mata has invited me. What could be less than this? It is a call from Mata. Aaya hai bulawa sherawali da,” Abdullah said responding to a question about whether he intended to visit the shrine.
Before joining the evening ‘Aarti’ at the sanctum sanctorum, Abdullah said he is going for ‘darshan’ of the Mata and would seek her blessings for peace, development and communal harmony. He said he hopes the intended Amarnath pilgrims will use the train and come in large numbers to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine.
Abdullah, wearing a round sun-visor hat, boarded the train at Nowgam Railway Station in Srinagar this morning and was received by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary in Katra, the base camp for the pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.
“My heart is overwhelmed and my eyes filled with tears on seeing Kashmir finally getting connected with the country’s rail network. I congratulate the engineers and the workers for making it happen,” Abdullah told reporters after deboarding.
He called the train the biggest victory for the people as it will ease travel, boost trade and tourism, and also strengthen “love and friendship” between the two regions.
“We hope that the yatris from across the country will use the facility to turn up in large numbers for darshan at Amarnath cave shrine during the upcoming pilgrimage,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah said the train will help transport horticulture produce from Kashmir to different markets in the country, including the far-off Kanyakumari, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bihar.
Earlier, in Srinagar, the NC chief said, “I am very happy that I am travelling by this train to Katra today. It has been the biggest benefit for us.”
He said the train would be a reliable transport link for the people of the valley.
“The road (between Srinagar and Jammu) gets closed sometimes and the airlines start fleecing the people by jacking up the prices. With this train, people will be saved from that,” he said.
Abdullah said the railway link will also prove to be beneficial to the horticulture sector in Kashmir as the produce will reach the markets faster.
“It will also benefit tourists visiting Kashmir,” he added.
