Aligarh: Mohammad Amir Rashid, president of Dara Shikoh Foundation wrote a letter to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) over Pakistan damaging walls of cultural Heritage site 'Sharda Peeth' located in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
The President of Dara Shikoh Shikoh Foundation has written to the Director General of UNESCO demanding action against the Government of Pakistan for deliberately damaging some walls of Sharda Peeth for the expansion of a coffee house for Pakistani soldiers inside Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
Mohammad Amir Rashid said "We have written a letter to the Director General of UNESCO, who has recently given the place of Vice President to Pakistan and the site was Sharda Peeth, which was declared a cultural heritage, yet the Pakistani government there has deliberately damaged some walls of Sharda Peeth for the expansion of a coffee house being built for Pakistani soldiers inside POK.
while there is also a court order that it has to preserve the cultural heritage, despite that, the Pakistani army deliberately hurt the sentiments of the Indian people and especially the beliefs of the Hindu people across the country on the anniversary of 26/11."
The president of Dara Shikoh Foundation also mentioned another temple in his letter to the UNESCO which has been systematically damaged.
"This incident has been specifically carried out so that their radical thinking gets promoted somewhere and under the guise of a coffee house, they are damaging the Sharda Peeth despite the strict instructions of the Supreme Court. There is also Hinglaj temple there and within three-four weeks the temples have been systematically damaged," Mohammad Amir Rashid added.
He further demanded that the UNESCO should take action in the matter and must take rehabilitation and conservation work in it's hand.
"We have demanded in the letter that the UNESCO Director General should call the local representative and since UNESCO itself has declared it as cultural heritage, then rehabilitation and revival of Sharda Peeth should be done to conserve it," he added.
Sharada Peeth is a ruined Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning located in the Neelum Valley of PoK. It is situated in the valley of Mount Harmukh, believed by Kashmiri Pandits to be the abode of Shiva.
The reconstruction of Maa Sharda's temple in Kupwara is a necessary and important step in the direction of the discovery of Sharda civilisation and the promotion of Sharda-script.
As one of the Maha Shakti Peethas, Hindus believe that it represents the spiritual location of the Goddess Sati's fallen right hand.
Sharada Peeth is one of the three holiest sites of pilgrimage for Kashmiri Pandits, alongside the Martand Sun Temple and the Amarnath Temple. (ANI)
