Advani flags off Mansarovar yatra

NEW DELHI, JUNE 20. Flagging off the fourth contingent of 31 pilgrims to the holy Kailash Mansarovar shrine, the Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, today said the country's unity owed much to these cross-country pilgrimages which linked different people.

He quoted India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as having said at a Congress session in Madurai in 1961 that northeners going to Kanyakumari and southerners going to Kailash Mansarovar had helped in a unique blend of unity. These traditions strengthen the soul, Mr. Advani added.

But he said the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage was perhaps the most holy since the difficulties that the pilgrims underwent showed their devotion. He emphasised the need to keep the area of pilgrimage clean and leave nothing there `except their misdeeds'.

- UNI

(Caption: Border Security Force personnel patrolling a mountain at Chandanwari en route to Amarnath cave on Wednesday. Security has been beefed up from Phalgam base camp to the holy cave as the annual Hindu pilgrimage starts from July 4. - Photo: Nissar Ahmad)

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