When death had stalked Amarnath pilgrims in 1996!

By B Revti

Death had stalked Swami Amarnath ji pilgrims in August 1996 as never before scores of people had perished due to the unseasonal snowfall and the torrential rains that had begun with the movement of pilgrims from Pahalgam, the base camp of Amarnath to the holy cave shrine.

 Bad weather had made it impossible to carry on with the rescue operations, as authorities, who were caught unawares, failed to rescue the stranded pilgrims, who later died mainly of cold.

  From the year 1991 to 1996, the annual pilgrimage to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath was held under the threat of militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir. But in 1996, when the militants had reportedly “assured’’ that they would not interfere in the pilgrimage, the number of pilgrims swelled from the previous years. The erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir was also going for the elections around the same time in 1996.

It was Shiva’s Tandav

Due to the clear and dry weather, the pilgrimage in 1996 had in fact begun in July itself.  The dry weather had continued up to August 20. It abruptly turned violent! Between August 21 and 25, one lakh pilgrims were simultaneously moving either up or down  from the base camp to the holy cave and no one had predicted  that  the tragedy was a step away  on the tedious track. Soon after August 25, there was unusually heavy snowfall along with severe blizzards along the yatra route. The Yatris, over 250 in number, had died due to exhaustion, exposure, freezing, and other factors.

Due to the clear and dry weather, the pilgrimage in 1996 had in fact begun in July itself.  The dry weather had continued up to August 20. It abruptly turned violent! Between August 21 and 25, one lakh pilgrims were simultaneously moving either up or down  from the base camp to the holy cave and no one had predicted  that  the tragedy was a step away  on the tedious track. Soon after August 25, there was unusually heavy snowfall along with severe blizzards along the yatra route. The Yatris, over 250 in number, had died due to exhaustion, exposure, freezing, and other factors.Government of hiding the facts and accusing the Government for laxity. Gowda’s Home Minister,  Inderjit Gupta had admitted the lapses leading to the tragic incident.

Nitish Sengupta Committee

The then State Government  had constituted a committee headed by the retired IAS officer Nitish Sengupta to conduct a probe. The Committee had opined that the heavy casualties were due to excessive flow of the pilgrims, State Government’s `priority’ in election being held at the same time and thus the consequent inability to face the crises.

Ice lingam was not fully visible in 1996

The reports assessed by Kashmir Rechords, suggest that in 1996,  the holy  lingam was down from its normal eight  feet to just three 3 feet. Worried  about the same,  the then  state government officials  had flown up a 10-ft-high picture of the lingam to the icy cave and pasted it there on August 21.

 Nature believed it was time for irony. The next day freezing rain and snow began to fall. It continued for three days, and temperatures plunged to well below zero.  For the pilgrims (more than one lakh moving on the track), it turned into a seemingly endless march of death. More than 214 died on the road to Amarnath, while others had lost life at base camps and hospitals.  It was like Shiva’s tandav nritya (dance of death)

Army and Air Force helicopters had ferried survivors to hospitals in Srinagar. The tragedy had also brought out the best in the people of Kashmir.  All along the route, local Muslims had opened their houses to dazed pilgrims, giving them food and shelter.