Shiv Sena (UBT) demands free registration for Amarnath Yatra

Jammu, Apr 30: Shiv Sena (UBT) Jammu and Kashmir unit leaders on Tuesday wrote a memorandum “with their blood” to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, demanding free registration for the annual Shri Amarnath Yatra 2024, which is scheduled from June 29 to August 19, 2024.
In a programme organised at Jammu Press Club, the party’s J&K chief Manish Sahni Party said, “The pockets of the devotees coming on Amarnath Yatra become empty even before the formalities set for them. On that, Rs 150 per passenger is being charged in the name of registration. In a Hindu-majority country, the recovery of money in the name of registration on the religious pilgrimages of Hindus makes one bow one’s head in shame, which cannot be tolerated at all.”
He said that before the Reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir i.e. before 2019, the registration fee was just Rs 50 per passenger, which was continuously increased during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule and made Rs 220 in 2023. After a series of protests by Shiv Sena (UBT), a slight reduction was made in it in 2024, but our demand is to make it completely free, he said.
Sahni said their fight will continue until Shri Amarnath Yatra registration is made free.
Along with the memorandum, the party said it has also requested to meet the Lieutenant Governor. “Despite making dozens of requests, we are not being given time,” Sahni claimed.