Jammu

Good leadership: DC Poonch Ashok Sharma and SSP Shafqat Hussain play a big role in ensuring a peaceful Sh Budha Amarnath yatra

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Published on

September 1, 2026

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: During the last two months, the district administration faced multiple challenges, right from the July flood-like situation in which several persons in the Loran and Murrah areas lost their lives, including the damaging of government and private infrastructure, to managing the highly sensitive Shri Budha Amarnath yatra and Eid Milad-un-Nabi.

The Deputy Commissioner Poonch Ashok Sharma and SSP Poonch Shafqat Hussain played a good role and ultimately got success in ensuring a peaceful yatra and Eid Milad-un-Nabi, in addition to providing relief to the flood-affected victims. Adequate security arrangements The police arranged adequate security by the police from BG to Poonch and then from Poonch to Mandi. The Poonch police gave utmost importance to the security scenario during the Shri Budha Amarnath yatra. Considering the huge sensitivity of the yatra, the Poonch police also stopped an official vehicle of a sitting judicial officer who allegedly entered the yatra convoy, which was said to be against the security protocol given to the yatra buses, and this issue also remained a debatable topic for some days as members of the advocate fraternity were seen raising slogans against the Poonch police, but the Poonch police, keeping the internal security aspect of the yatra on priority, were seen not obeying the chair of the judicial officer without any malafide intentions. The professionalism displayed by the Poonch police, led by SSP Shafqat Hussain and his team comprising Addl. SP Dr. Ajay Sharma, Dy. SP HQRS Neeraj Sharma, Dy. SP Ops, Dy. SP DAR, and all SHOs, gave a clear-cut signal that nobody is supreme when it comes to the internal security of the yatra. Moreover, the festivals of Eid Milad-Un-Nabi and Chhari Yatra were on the same day, but the way DC Poonch and SSP Poonch managed everything and ensured a peaceful yatra and Eid shows that the administration had done the proper homework. It is pertinent to mention here that the annual Sh Buda Amarnath yatra always remained a challenging task for the district administration every year because the said yatra had gone through some tough moments in the past where a grenade was thrown near the Sh Dashnami Akhara temple, in which more than fifteen people were injured. The yatra also witnessed some tense moments in the Mandi and Chandak areas during the year 2016. The district administration proactively made thorough plans for the yatra and employed various strategies to ensure it proceeded peacefully. At the yatra ground, the municipal officials also did a fantastic job in ensuring cleanliness. The JPDCL, Jal Shakti, Medical Department, and other concerned departments also played a vital role during the yatra. All the subordinate officials of DIG Rajouri-Poonch Sandeep Wazir, DC Poonch Ashok Sharma, SSP Poonch Shafqat Hussain, and SSP Traffic Rural Farooq Qaiser; paramilitary forces; and officials of various intelligence agencies did their task in an appropriate manner to ensure the peaceful and successful Sh Budha Amarnath yatra by managing every issue related to the yatra in a sensitive district known for various internal and external security concerns.