Long queues witnessed as SANJY registration begins

Srinagar, June 30: Braving the shadow of the horrific April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, hundreds of Amarnath pilgrims on Monday were seen lined up at Jammu’s Saraswati Dham registration centre on Saturday.Devotees from across India gathered in large numbers on the first day of spot registration, expressing unwavering resolve to participate in the 38-day pilgrimage to the holy Amarnath cave shrine. Many said their journey this year carries an additional purpose to pay homage to the 26 victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and stated that bullets can’t shake their faith.Devakar Kadam from Mumbai, who is embarking on his 11th pilgrimage said that bullets and bombs cannot stop us from having Baba Barfani’s darshan. Even if bullets are fired or bombs explode, we will be there. This is our pledge, he said.The Saraswati Dham centre, near Jammu Railway Station, witnessed a massive rush, with chants of “Bam Bam Bole” and “Jai Baba Barfani” filling the air.Pilgrims were eager to secure tokens, particularly for the traditional Nunwan-Pahalgam route. Many described their decision to take that route as an act of tribute and resistance.Mumta Deshmukh, a group member from Maharashtra, said, “this year, it’s not just a yatra; it is our way of honouring the souls lost in Pahalgam. By walking the same route, we are telling terrorists, you cannot scare us.”“Compared to last year, the energy is higher. People are coming in larger numbers, this is a clear message to those who want to spread fear: we’re not afraid,” She said.Mumta said her family deliberately chose the Pahalgam route as a tribute to the victims. This is our spiritual resistance.”However, the surge in turnout also exposed logistical strains. With only 2,000 tokens available for the day, many pilgrims were left disappointed. Long queues formed as early as dawn, with many waiting for hours only to return empty-handed.Joginder Singh from Uttar Pradesh, who stood in line for over four hours, said they felt deeply hurt not getting a token today. “We wanted to begin our journey on day one. The government should issue tokens for the next day too, so people do not have to wait again.”“After five hours of waiting, we got nothing. Authorities should reserve our spot for the next day instead of making us return. Our commitment to this pilgrimage is yearly. No one can instill fear of death in us. This is also a morale boost for our soldiers. We must come in even larger numbers,” he said.Sub-Divisional Magistrate Jammu South, Manu Hansa told Rising Kashmir that only pilgrims with tokens issued by the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) will be entertained at the centres.”To address the rising demand, three more offline registration centres, Vaishnavi Dham, Panchayat Bhawan, and Mahajan Hall, will become operational in Jammu from Tuesday,” SDM added.