The Amarnath yatra, an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a Himalayan shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir, began on Thursday after a two-year gap because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The shrine dedicated to the deity Shiva, deep inside a cave 3,880 metres above sea level, attracts hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims annually during the two months that it is open to visitors.
The shrine houses a naturally formed ice stalagmite considered to be a "Shiva lingam" — a representation of Shiva.
Pilgrims can take one of two routes — the traditional 48-kilometre route from Nunwan in southern Kashmir or the shorter 14km route from Baltal in central Kashmir.
A batch of more than 2,700 pilgrims left the base camp in Nunwan on Thursday.
The journey, made mostly on foot and ponies, passes through treacherous stretches and takes about three days ― with stops at night.
Authorities are expecting about 600,000 pilgrims this year, twice the usual number, because of the long gap since the shrine was last open to visitors. The pilgrimage was cancelled midway in 2019 amid threats of attacks after the Indian government suddenly stripped the Kashmir region of its limited autonomy, before being cancelled in 2020 and last year because of the pandemic.
Authorities have posted four times the usual number of security personnel to protect pilgrims amid an increase in violence this year as tensions remain high.
Separatist militants had staged more than 60 attacks in Kashmir as of May, official figures show, while more than 70 militants were killed by government forces.
Security forces are using 130 sniffer dogs on the routes to the shrine to detect explosives and more than 200 drones are being used to conduct surveillance.
Pilgrims have come under attack from groups described by officials as terrorists several times in the past. At least 53 pilgrims died and 167 were injured in 36 terror attacks since 1990, the government told parliament in 2017 after seven pilgrims died in an attack on their bus.
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
