After Kartarpur Sahib corridor, now migrant Kashmiri Hindus demand similar passage to Sharda Temple in PoK

The Sharada Peeth which is an abandoned temple located in the Sharda village along the Neelam River across the LoC. A prominent Kashmiri Hindus' body on Monday demanded a corridor to the "world-famous" Temple in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir for Hindu devotees.

The Sharada Peeth is an abandoned temple located in the Sharda village along the Neelam River across the LoC.

New Delhi: After the foundation laying ceremony of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor for the Sikh devotees to facilitate their pilgrimage to the shrine in Pakistan, a prominent Kashmiri Hindus' body on Monday demanded a corridor to the "world-famous" Sharda Devi Temple in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir on similar lines for Hindu devotees. The Sharada Peeth which is an abandoned temple located in the Sharda village along the Neelam River across the LoC, used to be a prominent centre of learning and is regarded as one of the 18 highly-revered temples across south Asia. On the day Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu along with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district, All Party Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC) of displaced Kashmiri Hindus, raised demands for a similar corridor.  The proposed Kartarpur Sahib Corridor would facilitate the Sikh pilgrims to visit the shrine in Narowal district in Pakistan and return without any passport or travel document, the same day. The chief of APMCC Vinod Pandita said they welcomed the government's decision on building the corridor to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara to facilitate easy passage to Sikh pilgrims. He said “we want the government to take similar steps to create a corridor to Sharda Devi Temple as well to facilitate Hindu pilgrims reach there." On lines similar to Kartarpur Sahib corridor, another corridor to Sharda Devi Temple too can be built across the two side of the LoC between Tweetwal and Sharda, which are hardly few kilometers apart, the APMCC chief said. The committee has been batting for reopening of the significant temple for the past ten years with the members even having sat on fast unto death for it twice. The two fasts that lasted 10 to 15 days each were held in Jammu and at Porbonder in Gujarat. They had earlier also undertaken a yatra to the temple and had marched up to the last point Sharda Teon on Indian side of the Line of Control en route the temple. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is slated to hold the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor on the Pakistani side on November 28. Even PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti rooted for building a corridor to the temple on Monday.