Mehbooba reiterates request to open Sharda Peeth after Pakistan gives green signal

New Delhi: People's Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday reiterated her request to reopen Sharda Peeth, a temple across Line of Control (LoC), for Kashmiri Pandits.

Taking to Twitter, she said, “Not too long ago I had written to PM imploring GoI to reopen Sharda Peeth, a temple across LoC for Kash Pandits. An initiative like this at a time when Indo - Pak tensions are at an all time high could help navigate the current impasse.”

Her remark comes hours after Pakistani media reported that the Imran Khan-led country had given a green signal for the opening of Sharda Peeth Corridor.

In December last year, Mufti had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get Sharda Peeth pilgrimage in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) opened for Kashmiri Pandits and other devotees.

In a letter to Prime Minister Modi, Mufti greeted him for opening Kartarpur corridor for the Sikh pilgrims and said that Sharda Peeth is a relic of Kashmir's glowing history and connects the people with their cultural and intellectual roots.

"For the Kashmiri Pandits, it is an important place of pilgrimage which was frequented by them till independence. Their urge to open it to pilgrimage has been projected ever since the reopening of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road. Kartarpur has encouraged the Pandit community to see a possibility of the pilgrimage to Sharda Peeth in the same spirit and our belief is strengthened by the reported offer of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to allow it along with the pilgrimage to Katas Raj," Mufti stated in the letter.

The ancient temple of Sharda and the adjacent ruins of Sharda University lie in the Neelam Valley, which is located about 160 km from Muzaffarabad.