SRINAGAR: National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday returned to Srinagar after offering prayers at the Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra, calling the experience “deeply spiritual” and the journey aboard the newly launched Vande Bharat Express “a dream fulfilled in my lifetime”.
The 87-year-old veteran leader, who travelled from Srinagar to Katra on Tuesday via the Semi-high-speed Vande Bharat train, spent the night at the sanctum sanctorum of the revered shrine and participated in special prayers. He was accompanied by his grandsons Zamir and Zahir, Jammu and Kashmir minister Satish Sharma, Omar Abdullah’s advisor Nasir Aslam Wani, and senior National Conference leaders, including chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq.
“I had a great darshan, and I am hopeful that all our prayers for peace, progress, and brotherhood at the shrine will be answered,” Abdullah told reporters at Srinagar’s Nowgam railway station upon his return. “We want our country to move forward, and we want to be a part of that development journey.”
The former chief minister described the journey as personally significant and politically symbolic, as it marked his first ride on the Vande Bharat Express, India’s flagship semi-high-speed train that now connects the Kashmir Valley to the rest of the country in record time.
“I had tears in my eyes when we crossed the Chenab Bridge,” he said, referring to the world’s highest railway arch bridge, part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project. “This is the biggest gift to Jammu and Kashmir, a dream that I have seen become reality in my life.”
Abdullah said the train’s arrival would transform not just pilgrimage travel but also bolster tourism, trade, and horticulture in the region. “This train is a blessing. Our fruits can now go outside easily. People will not be fleeced by airlines whenever the highway closes. This is a new chapter for our people,” he said.
Minister Satish Sharma, who was part of the entourage, said Abdullah had expressed a desire to visit Vaishno Devi during his recent pilgrimage to Mela Kheer Bhawani in Ganderbal. “We had darshan three times after reaching the holy town. He walked nearly three kilometres to the shrine and prayed for Jammu and Kashmir to regain its lost glory,” Sharma was quoted as saying by the PTI late Tuesday night. “This trip was historic. We will remember it forever.”
The delegation also offered prayers for the victims of the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam and cross-border shelling, with Sharma asserting, “Those who try to disturb our peace will never succeed. Terrorism is an industry, but our forces are giving a befitting reply.”
National Conference’s provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta said Abdullah’s visit has already had a visible impact, boosting pilgrim footfall and sending “a positive message across the country”. He expressed hope that the tourism sector, which was shaken by the recent Pahalgam incident, would soon bounce back. “We are seeing more pilgrims arrive, and we expect this momentum to build,” he said.
The two Vande Bharat trains, flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6, run on the newly completed USBRL route, a 272-km-long mega-infrastructure project that includes 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, built for Rs 43,780 crore. Alongside the Chenab Bridge, the route also includes India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge at Anji Khad.
In his remarks, Abdullah praised the workers and engineers behind the feat, “We must remember both God and the people who gave us this train. It is their effort that has given us this beautiful gift.” “We prayed not just for ourselves, but for the future of India,” he said. “Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of India. We want it to shine again.”
