Amarnath yatra an assertion of Hindu identity, India's claim on Kashmir

The devotion of the faithful has been periodically instrumentalised and turned to political ends

This article first appeared in thewire.in on April 23, 2017

In his first week as chief minister, Yogi Adityanath announced a plan that seemed more to do with Tibet than Uttar Pradesh – he would build a ‘Kailash Bhawan’ from which pilgrims could set out on the yatra to Mount Kailash and the Mansarovar lake in the Tibetan Himalayas.

The significance of his plan was not hard to figure. It drew a line from the holy heights of Kailash to the less hallowed plains of western UP; the first step on the path