Help remove encroachment by Pak army at Sharda Peeth, PM urged

Srinagar, December 2

Ravinder Pandita, the head of the Save Sharda Committee, has penned a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and two senior ministers, urging immediate intervention to address what the committee deems as “encroachment” by the Pakistan army on the Sharda Peeth complex in the Neelum district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The Sharda Peeth complex, housing the ancient Sharda temple revered by the Kashmiri Pandit community, is situated in the Neelam Valley of PoK, just across the Line of Control. The ruins of Sharda Peeth are approximately 50 km from Teetwal in Kupwara district or 160 km from Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, and became inaccessible to the people of J&K after Partition.

The Save Sharda Committee, known for reconstructing the Sharda temple and a Sikh gurdwara at Teetwal in Kupwara district, has been actively campaigning to allow Kashmiri Pandit pilgrims access to the temple. Ravinder Pandita’s letter to the Prime Minister highlights the alleged encroachment by the Pakistan Army on Sharda Peeth, expressing concern about the establishment of a coffee home and the demolition of the boundary wall of the revered site. The committee appeals to the Prime Minister to address the issue with Islamabad.

The letter states, “Our civil society across LoC frequently pays a visit to this religious and heritage site, and while watching the dilapidated condition and poor maintenance of the complex and demolition of the boundary wall, we are feeling anguished & dejected. Moreover, after the recent encroachments of our original revenue area of 73 kanals, we hardly guess 10 kanals of land are left free without encroachments.”

Pandita urged the Prime Minister to convey to Pakistan, in the strongest terms, the need for proper maintenance of Sharda Peeth and to halt encroachments on the complex.