Kashmiri Pandits Take Out 'Shobha Yatra' In Srinagar To Celebrate Ram Navami

The Kashmiri Pandit community in Srinagar took out a religious procession ''Shoba Yatra'' to celebrate the Hindu festival Ram Navami. The procession was taken out from the Old city of Srinagar's Habba Kadal area. Habba Kadal was majorly dominated by the Kashmir Pandit community before the start of the insurgency. The Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF provided tight security cover for the Shobha Yatra which started from Zaindar Mohalla in the old city of Srinagar and after passing through the city's commercial hub Lal Chowk, Habbakadal, Barbarshah, Hari Singh High Street and Jehangir Chowk, the Yatra culminated at Tankipora area of Srinagar.

''I wish and greet you all Happy Ram Navami. For the past 16 years, we have been taking out this yatra and 'Jhanki'. Earlier, it was stopped due to turmoil in the valley but now we make sure to hold this Yatra every year in Srinagar. We pray for peace and brotherhood. The locals always support us a lot while taking out the yatra. The decorations are done by Muslims. We pray for peace in Kashmir and hope there will be no target killings and people live peacefully,'' said Abhimanyu Das, the organiser of the Shobha Yatra.

The Organiser's expressed happiness and gratitude to both Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims for their support in carrying out the procession in Srinagar. Kashmiri Pandit living abroad also had come to be a part of the procession. 

''I have been living in the US for the past 30 years and I have been watching this on YouTube, this celebration, and this year I thought of coming here and I wanted to see if it's true that people come on the streets, and they are happy and celebrate irrespective of caste, religion and creed. We bring the message of peace and solidarity,'' said Raj Pandita, a Kashmiri Pandit. 

Massive paramilitary and police forces guarded the Yatra from beginning to end. During the Yatra, Muslim brothers and sisters who are observing Ramadan hailed the Hindu Community, notably Kashmiri Pandits for Ram Navami and Shoba Yatra.