At least 600 Amarnath-bound pilgrims, led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers, on Sunday courted arrest after they were prevented from proceeding towards the hill shrine by the state administration.
Date of the yatra was fixed June 25 by the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), however, the pilgrims tried to start the yatra from Sunday defying the prohibitory orders clamped to deter them.
Around six hundred pilgrims from different parts of the country, including the members of VHP and few saints, assembled at Parade area of the city early this morning to leave for the cave shrine of Amarnath in South Kashmir, the police said.
The police took them to the Yatra Nivas in Bhagwati Nagar here after a couple of hours-long protest, officials said.
The protesters were released in the evening, they added.
Among the arrested were, VHP state president, Ramakant Dubey, BJP state secretary Sat Sharma besides Bhartya Janta Yuva Morcha president Manish Sharma.
The devotees urged the government to extend the duration of the yatra to two months starting from Jayeshth Purnima, on Monday.
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Armymen ‘trained’ for civilian world
Jatinder Kaur Tur
Hyderabad, June 3
Air Commodore Ashminder Singh Bahal, Deputy Commandant, College of Air Warfare here, will retire soon. Having served the Indian Air Force for more than three decades, he is beginning to develop certain anxieties on coping with the “civilian” world, as people in the forces call the outside world.
“Everything is governed by discipline, performance and rules in the forces, he said. “But in the civil or corporate world, the person sitting on the top dictates things.” Little wonder, then, he feels “survival instincts” have to be particularly sharpened to thrive post-retirement.
And this is where the Army Welfare Placement Organisation comes in, helping in a smooth transition of Army veterans and preparing them for the world outside. In a word, de-militarise.
In fact, the writing board at the Army Placement Node in Secunderabad has a list of ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’, scribbled by Col. V. Udameeshi (Retd), director of the cell’s Andhra Pradesh operations.
A peep into a classroom full of retired soldiers shows they were being groomed to change or cast off the years of imprinting that were a ‘way of life’ in the armed forces.
“They are two different worlds, and the missing link is ‘discipline’,” Col. Udameeshi said. “Without proper grooming, many of these former Army personnel get into depression and despite being qualified, trained, experienced and capable, many do not land good jobs. They end up leading a ‘retired life’.
“Many values and routines inculcated in the Army have to be shed off to carve a niche in the civilian world.”