J&K L-G vows justice to victims of terrorism
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India Today
4 days ago
- India Today
Why Mahadev Hill of Kashmir, a living legend, is sacred to Hindus
The mastermind of Pahalgam attack was among three terrorists linked to the April 22 massacre who were killed in an encounter on Monday near one of Kashmir's holiest summits — the Mahadev Peak. The terrorists killed 26 civilians after segregating them on the basis of their religion. Not just the place, the timing of Operation Mahadev is coincidental too. It comes just weeks before Sawan Purnimashi, the full moon in the holy month, when, as historians note, Kashmiri Pandits used to undertake their annual pilgrimage to the sacred peak in reverence to Lord Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Suleiman Shah, alias Musa Fauji, the mastermind and executor of the attack was among the three Pahalgam attackers killed by security forces in an Peak is a sacred site that finds mentions in ancient scriptures and Kashmiri folklore. "Hindus consider it a sacred site. At the top lies an ancient glacier which remains frozen for 12 months. Some people get ice from it and vend it in the streets of the city. On Sawan Purnimashi, the Pundits make a pilgrimage to this site," according to Kashmiri historian Peer Hassan MAHADEV TO NEUTRALISE PAHALGAM ATTACKERSTitled 'Operation Mahadev', the joint anti-terror drive was launched by the Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and the CRPF in Srinagar's Lidwas area, a region right under the shadow of Mount Mahadev or the Mahadev sources confirmed that the terrorists were foreign nationals affiliated with the Pakistan-based group, The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to officials, the gunfight began after intelligence inputs pointed to the movement of armed terrorists in the Lidwas area.A cordon was quickly set up, and the area combed. A brief, but intense exchange of fire ensued, following which all three suspects were gunned location and timing of this encounter have not gone unnoticed, for the site of the killing of the terrorists is not just a mountaintop, but a living embodiment of divine memory for the Kashmiri Hindu PEAK IS CALLED 'THE PEAK OF SRINAGAR'Mahadev Peak, rising over 13,000 feet (3,962 metres) above sea level, is no ordinary mountain in the eyes of the devout Pandit community of the Kashmir Valley, who used go on annual pilgrimage treks to the Mahadev Peak, part of the Zabarwan Range in Srinagar District, stands as a symbol of spiritual significance in Kashmir. The holy peak, visible across most parts of Srinagar city, has earned the moniker "the peak of Srinagar".The Mahadev Peak, the highest in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is locally known as 'Mahadeva Gali' and is revered by Kashmiri Pandits as the abode of Lord Shiva, the god of destruction and meditation in Hindu per Kashmiri folklore, this is the very path that Lord Shiva took to reach Amarnath Cave, where he narrated the Amar Katha (the tale of immortality) to Goddess doing so, Shiva is believed to have shed all attachments, including his serpents, the crescent moon, his damru (drum), and even Nandi the bull, on the way. The Mahadev Peak is considered one such stop in Shiva's HILLS: FROM NILMATA PURANA TO RAJATARANGINIMount Mahadev attracted hundreds of Pandits every year during the Sawan Purnima pilgrimage. However, the mass pilgrimage to the holy hills stopped as terrorism and militancy hit the Mahadev Peak is a symbol of Kashmiri culture, the memory of which cannot be erased by terrorism or peak stands as a living legend for the Kashmiri Pandit trek to the Mahadev peak begins from Faqir Gujri, passing through places still bearing their ancient names — Dwara (Dara), Rudrawas (Lidvas), according to a report in the Jammu-based Daily scriptures from the Nilamata Purana to Kalhana's Rajatarangini from the 12th century, speak of the Mahadevagiri as a pilgrimage and a holy Nilamata Purana, also known as the Kasmira Mahatmya, states: "One is honoured in the world of Rudra by seeing the mountain Mahadeva after having a plunge into the Mahuri in front of Tripuresa."The Nilamata Purana, which documented Kashmir between the 4th and 8th centuries, affirms the peak's location and divine stature, noting: "Mahadevagiri is the westernmost peak of the highest ridge of the mass of mountains lying between the Sind valley and the eastern range of mountains".Kalhana's Rajatarangini, written in the 12th century, describes the grandeur of the region's geography and locates Mahadev Peak with reverence, noting, "The whole mountain-ridge which stretches to the south of Triphar and along the Dal, bore in ancient times the name of Sridvara. On the opposite side of the valley rises the bold peak of Mahadeva to a height of over 13,000 feet. The extremity of this ridge in the west forms the amphitheatre of bold hills which encircle Dal Lake and Srinagar to the north".While historical sources affirm the religious significance of Mahadev Hill, the tradition has largely been forgotten by the people, suggest reports. Today, it has been reduced to an adventure or tourist destination for locals and visitors alike, with little awareness of its deep historical, spiritual, and religious importance, according to the report in the Daily is near this Mahadev Hill, with immense cultural and religious significance, that the three alleged attackers of Pahalgam, who segregated civilians on the basis of faith and killed them, were neutralised.- Ends
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Indian Express
‘What signs of reformation has he shown?': Priyadarshini Mattoo's family relives horror of her death as killer seeks freedom
Hemant Mattoo hadn't felt this kind of rage in years. When he read about the Delhi High Court directing that the case for premature release of his sister's killer be considered afresh, it struck like a blow. But anger quickly gave way to disbelief when he saw the reason: the convict had shown an 'element of reformation.' Nearly three decades ago, his sister, Delhi University law student Priyadarshini Mattoo, was killed. She was 25. The accused was a college senior and an IPS officer's son, Santosh Kumar Singh. He had been pursuing her relentlessly in the months leading up to her death. On January 23, 1996, while Priyadarshini was alone at home, Santosh would be seen by a neighbour entering her house in the evening. She would later be found lying under her bed, with a room heater's cord wrapped around her neck — she had been brutally raped and murdered. For Hemant, the decades since her killing have been filled with recurring waves of fury. First, when the district court nearly let Santosh walk free, then when the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment, and again upon learning that he was lodged in an open prison, afforded freedoms unimaginable to the family he destroyed. Speaking to The Indian Express, Hemant, who is settled in Canada, says, 'I want to know what signs of reformation he has shown. Has he apologised to my family? Has he apologised to his own family? He's never even approached us. He still maintains his innocence.' His anger mounts as he speaks further. 'He's been getting the mild side of the stick ever since he committed the crime. It's a joke that the justice system has played with us…' On July 1, the HC had directed the Sentence Review Board (SRB) to consider the case of Santosh's premature release afresh. Holding the SRB's decision to deny Santosh, along with two other prisoners, premature release as suffering from 'material procedural and legal infirmities', the court highlighted several lacunae in the current process undertaken by the board while deciding applications for early release of prisoners. A fresh decision is to be taken within four months. 'She faced months of harassment' Hemant vividly remembers that fateful January day. He was in Kuwait at the time when he got a call around 4 pm. It was from a family friend, who broke the news to him. 'The ground seemed to shift under my feet,' he says. By the time he reached Delhi, almost the entire Kashmiri Pandit community had gathered to pay their condolences. 'They first thought the murder was a militant attack. Then they got to know it was a guy who did it, a college student… Nothing like that had ever happened within our community.' Hemant pauses for a moment before saying, 'Well, apart from the exodus.' It had just been a few years after the Kashmiri Pandits had been forcibly exiled from the valley. The Mattoos had moved from Srinagar to Jammu. After Priyadarshini moved to the Capital to pursue her studies in Law, her father, Chaman Lal Mattoo, took up a job as chairman of a non-profit organisation in Delhi. However, their parents would soon notice how troubled Priyadarshini was in college. She had caught the eye of Santosh, a senior, and he was determined to woo her. In February 1995, he followed her on his bike and stopped her car at a traffic light. Priyadarshini responded by lodging a complaint at the R K Puram police station, where he signed an undertaking that he wouldn't harass her again. Six months later, in August, Santosh followed her home to Vasant Kunj and tried to break into the house. Priyadarshini went to the police. Again, the police made him sign an undertaking. By October, Priyadarshini's parents were aware of the routine harassment she was facing. She and her father approached the Commissioner of Police, seeking protection. She was subsequently assigned a Personal Security Officer (PSO). That same day, she debriefed the Dean of the Faculty of Law about the harassment, who, in turn, called Santosh and requested him to desist. Furious at her resistance, Santosh would attempt to get her expelled from college by accusing her of pursuing two degrees simultaneously. Priyadarshini had to give a detailed explanation to the authorities, reiterating Santosh's ploys of harassment. From then on, his behaviour saw an escalation. In November, he grabbed hold of her arm in college and refused to let go. This time, Priyadarshini filed a complaint and an FIR was registered at Maurice Nagar police station under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty). Santosh was arrested — before being let go on a personal bond, a signed letter promising the police that he'll appear in court when he is summoned. By December 1995, Priyadarshini was a nervous wreck. Hemant, who had come to Delhi for a vacation, recalls that she looked stressed. '… I remember she looked scared and stressed. When I asked her, she brushed it off as exam stress… she never told me anything. Later, when I demanded why I was kept in the dark, my cousins said nobody wanted me to worry…' By January next year, she was gone. The post-mortem report noted 19 injuries and three broken ribs. Santosh had also used his motorcycle helmet to bludgeon her head, a piece of evidence that would become crucial in the High Court case. When the helmet was submitted as evidence, it was damaged — the visor was broken, containing specks of blood. Moreover, Priyadarshini's PSO and the neighbour who saw Santosh entering the house would note in their testimonies that they had seen the same helmet with him, but undamaged and with a visor. During Priyadarshini's last rites, their mother confided in Hemant that they'd approached Santosh's father. 'They had asked him to make his son stop troubling Priya…,' recalls Hemant bitterly. But his father's faith in the judiciary was never shaken. 'He always believed the right thing would be done. He told me, 'We'll do it the right way, we'll take the legal route'… He sent me back to Kuwait as well because he was scared I'd do something stupid,' Hemant says. 'She was a tomboy, funny and fearless' Back in Kuwait, Hemant felt unmoored. 'Those days, I walked around like there was no life in me… She was eight years younger, she was my baby sister,' he says. He recalls Priyadarshini as a funny, gregarious, fearless and tomboyish girl. 'She was an incredible prankster. She would do this thing back when we were in Srinagar. When someone would come to visit our house, she'd tell them that their scooter was in the way and a neighbour had asked us to move it; could she have the keys? She'd then take the vehicle for a joy ride,' Hemant laughs. 'You could never be sad around her; she was always brimming with jokes. She was good at mimicry too — she only had to listen to someone talk once… Back then, she'd pick fights over politics with the boys in Nawabazaar. We used to say, 'We need to find a girl for this girl' because she was so tomboyish…,' he says. If Priyadarshini were still here, Hemant says, she'd probably have moved to the States or Canada after her studies. 'After we left Kashmir, we felt out of place everywhere. We were always looking for a place to settle down and put down our roots. He (Santosh) really took what little we had left,' says Hemant.
Deccan Herald
13-07-2025
- Deccan Herald
J&K L-G vows justice to victims of terrorism
Among the cases now being re-examined are the 1989 assassination of retired Kashmiri Pandit judge Neelkanth Ganjoo and the brutal killing of 23 Kashmiri Pandits in Wandhama, Ganderbal, in January 1998.
