New Delhi: It was a long fought battle for Ravinder Pandita, a Kashmiri pandit who migrated to Delhi like many others during the peak of insurgency in the valley in 1990s. For him, Pakistan government's green signal to Sharda Temple Corridor is the beginning of a new chapter between both the countries.
Sharing his experiences with ETV Bharat, Ravinder Pandita claimed that he has been fighting for this cause for nearly 20 years under the banner of his organisation 'Save Sharda Committee Kashmir.'
The Pakistan government on Monday gave nod to the opening of a corridor for Indian pilgrims to visit the ancient Sharda Peethtemple in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, meeting a long-standing demand of Kashmiri Pandits.
When asked whether he had ever imagined that Pakistan will agree to their demands, he said, "We had built so much pressure on Pakistan locally that it was important for Imran Khan's government to give it a green signal."
While talking about the history of the 5,000 years old temple, he claimed that it's present structure was built under King Lalita in 723 AD and the pilgrimage became important during Maharaja Ranbir Singh's regime.
Elaborating further, he claims that many ancient scripts like Tibetan, Bhutanese and Gurmukhi can trace back their roots to Sharda script.
Refusing to circumscribe it as a mere yatra (pilgrimage), Pandita called it an important destination for the Pandit community of Jammu and Kashmir. He subtly terms the entire conflict between both countries as political, while stressing about the beginning of cross LoC tourism.
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