For the second year in a row, the Amarnath Yatra has been cancelled, at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The registration for the Amarnath Yatra had been temporarily suspended earlier in the view if the COVID-19 pandemic. The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board has been constantly monitoring the situation, and the 56-day Amarnath Yatra was due to start from June 28 and end by August 22. The Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in a tweet said that it was important to save the lives of people, so it was advisable to not conduct the Amarnath Yatra this year in the interest of larger public interest. The Lieutenant Governor’s office said that Yatra would be symbolic only but all the traditional religious rituals would be performed at the Holy Cave Shrine.
The Amarnath Shrine Board, has given the reason as for saving the lives of people for the cancellation of the Amarnath Yatra, due to COVID-19 pandemic high risks had been avoided by cancelling the Amarnath Yatra for the second year in a row.
On Friday, a high level meeting of Home Minister Amit Shah in Kashmir, the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath Shine had been discussed.
In 2019, the Amarnath Yatra was stopped in the middle as well in the wake of the Centre’s move to end the J&K’s special constitutional position. In 2020, due to the pandemic and the second of the COVID-19 virus, the lockdown forced the authorities for the cancellation of the pilgrimage.
It's important to save people's lives. So, it is not advisable to hold and conduct this year's pilgrimage in the larger public interest.
— Office of LG J&K (@OfficeOfLGJandK) June 21, 2021
