Leaders hail gathering, seek return of Pandits to Valley

BEFITTING REPLY TO PERPETRATORS OF PAHALGAM ATTACK: FAROOQ; TIME TO EMPOWER PANDITS, SAYS CONG'S KARRA

- Ashiq Hussain

SRINAGAR: A large number of Hindu devotees, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, converged at Tulmulla to take part in prayers and celebrations during the annual fair at the Mata Kheer Bhawani temple in central Kashmir's Ganderbal on Tuesday. Owing to the fear perception after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the footfall of people was less than the past few years. Leaders from different parties hailed the gathering and also called for return of Pandits to the Valley.

Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, who participated in the prayers, said this was the biggest gathering in Kashmir at any place since the Pahalgam attack on April 22. As many as 26 people, including 25 tourists, were killed in a terror attack in Pahalgam in south Kashmir in April, triggering the flight of thousands of tourists out of the Valley.