M A I N   N E W S

Jabbar diktat on ‘bindi’

Srinagar, September 8
Close on heels of issuing a diktat to Muslim women to wear burqa (veil), militant outfit Lashker-e-Jabbar, today asked non-muslim women living in Kashmir to apply “bindi’’ on their foreheads and don saffron-coloured ‘dupattas’ for identification and exempted them from wearing burqa.

Ignoring the criticism of its move to enforce Islamic dress code for Muslim women, Lashker-e-Jabbar, a lesser known militant outfit which made its mark in Kashmir only last month when it launched the burqa drive, asked Hindu and Sikh “sisters’’ to have some identification marks to avoid any action proposed by it against Muslim women who were without veils.

In a brief statement issued here today, the militant outfit asked Hindu women to apply ‘’bindi’’ on their foreheads and Sikh sisters to wear saffron-coloured ‘dupattas’.

Lashker-e-Jabbar also confirmed a directive to the transporters to reserve 50 per cent seats in their vehicles for women to discourage travelling of men and women together in one seat.

Meanwhile, the deadline set by the outfit for Muslim women to wear burqa is due to expire on Monday next.

The deadline was extended on September 1 by 10 days by the outfit following request by like-minded and radical women’s organisation, Dukhtaran-e-Milat (daughters of faith). PTI

Cave temple found near Amarnath

Srinagar, September 8
A historic Shiva cave temple complex, believed to be 1,500 years old, has been discovered near Chandanwari near the holy Amarnath cave in south Kashmir, official sources said today.

The complex, discovered by a local bakerwal (shepherd) Ghulam Quadir, is located in a rocky portion of a meadow, now named ‘Shiv Marg’, a 5 km steep climb from Chandanwari, the first stop en route to the cave shrine of Amarnath, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Commissioner Parvez Dewan claimed.

He said there are at least three natural caves in the complex with a whitish stone idol of Shiva installed at the main cave which is 10 feet high and 15 feet wide.

“Even though the cave and idol stands highly eroded with the passage of time, features like Shiva’s top-knot, ‘nag devata’(cobra) coiled around his neck and the trishul(trident) are still visible,” Mr Dewan, who visited the site, said adding that he found more than a dozen Shivlings inside the main cave.

“This discovery so close to the historic Amarnath cave, would be another centre of pilgrim tourism in the state”, Mr Dewan, who headed a team of engineers to the site on September 4, said.

The second cave is a narrow extension of the first cave and is covered with algae.

One of the main attractions at the site is an “amrit kund” (nectar pond) with a perennial spring at around 250 metres from the cave-temple on the bed of a seasonal nallah.

He hoped the discovery would attract the attention of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) which would be able to establish its correct antiquity and history. PTI