Will target Amarnath pilgrims used for demographic, political gains by Sangh, warns TRF

However, the militant group has assured 'righteous' pilgrims of safety

A threat letter, purportedly issued by The Resistance Front (TRF) militant organisation, has warned to attack those Amarnath pilgrims, who they said "would be used for demographic and political gains" by the BJP government.

The annual pilgrimage to south Kashmir Himalayas is scheduled to start on June 30 and culminate on the day of Raksha Bandhan on August 11.

The threat letter which surfaced on social media reads: “We want to make it clear that if this Yatra is used for political and demographic gains then we at the Resistance Front will do our best to hinder such filthy schemes of Fascist Sangi regime.”

However, the militant group, believed to be a frontal organisation of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, has assured "righteous" pilgrims of safety.

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“We also want to assure the righteous pilgrims that you are safe till you are not indulged in Kashmir issue, but once you give shelter to Sangi goons in pilgrim disguise then the situation is going to change,” it said.

Warning that it will spill the blood, the letter warns: “We will openly target any stooge who becomes a pawn of this Fascist Sangi regime and the blood of such stooges and pawns like anything everywhere in Jammu and Kashmir.”

“Keep that in mind. Don’t become scapegoats like Kashmiri Pandits and don’t get provoked by Fascist Sangi regime’s saffronisation talks. We are fully monitoring the situation,” it added.

The annual yatra was canceled in 2020 as well as 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic and only symbolic ‘Chhari Mubarak’ was taken to the cave shrine by the Mahant Deependera Giri Ji and Sadhus. In 2019 it was cut short following intelligence inputs of terror threats ahead of the Centre scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

This year a record number of six to eight lakh pilgrims are expected to have darshan at the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.

TRF has claimed that the BJP government was using the pilgrimage for their "dirty politics". “From mere 15,000 to 8 lakh pilgrim registrations and from 15 days to 80 days is just to provoke the sensitivity of the Kashmir situation. It has come to our knowledge that this fascist regime is pumping RSS sanghis into the Valley in the name of Amarnath Yatra,” the letter reads.

“We at TRF are not against any religious matter but when such religious institutions are used against Kashmiri struggle then it becomes our concern to take such matter in our hands,” it added.

It may be recalled that since the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) took the control of the yatra in 2001, the number of pilgrims who visited the holy cave were 1.91 lakh during that year, followed by 1.10 lakh in 2002, 1.70 lakh in 2003, 4 lakh in 2004, 3.88 lakh in 2005, 3.47 lakh in 2006, 2.96 lakh in 2007, 5.33 lakh in 2008, 3.81 lakh in 2009, 4.55 lakh in 2010, 6.21 lakh in 2011, 6.35 lakh in 2012, 3.54 lakh in 2013, 3.72 lakh in 2014, 3.52 lakh in 2015, 2.21 lakh in 2016, 2.60 lakh in 2017 and 2.85 lakh in 2018.