(11 Jul 2003) SHOTLIST :
Jammu-Kashmir state - 8 July 2003
1. Soldiers keeping watch on road leading to Amarnath pilgrimage site
2. Soldier in bunker
3. Various shots of soldiers patrolling forests near pilgrimage route
4. Security officer looking through binoculars
5. Mid shot soldier
6. Various shots of pilgrims on way to Amarnath cave shrine
7. Mules carrying beds and tents for pilgrim camps being set up along the route
8. Mid shot security officials
9. Wide shot security camps in the mountains
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Nandan, Paramilitary officer
"The security scenario and the deployment, it keeps on changing depending on the various threat perceptions and various intelligence inputs that we keep on receiving through our sources and different government agencies. And based on those intelligence inputs, we have taken lots of measures this time to make sure that this yatra (pilgrimage) is secure and safe and comfortable yatra (pilgrimage) for the yatris (pilgrims)."
11. Security checking bags loaded on mules
12. Various of pilgrims being checked by security
13. Mid shot soldier
14. Wide shot soldiers building security bunker with gunny bags
15. Mid shot soldier fixing barbed fence on tree
16. Wide shot soldiers putting barbed fence
17. Mid shot security bunker
18. SOUNDBITE: (Hindi) Voxpop, Pilgrim:
"I do not feel scared coming here...the security arrangements are excellent. So the pilgrimage will go peacefully, thanks to our security. There is nothing to fear."
19. Pilgrims travelling in trucks
20. Soldier in bunker keeping watch on road
STORYLINE:
Thousands of pilgrims in India have begun their annual journey to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath despite the fact that the site has been targeted by Islamic militants during the previous three years.
Some 120,000 Hindus have registered for the month -long Amarnath pilgrimage, which leads to a cave 13,500 feet (4,115 metres) up in the Himalayan mountains.
The cave houses an ice stalagmite worshipped by Hindus as an incarnation of Shiva, the god of destruction and creation.
It is nestled in the mountains of the disputed Kashmir state, the centre of an Islamic insurgency that began in 1989.
In spite of a security presence made up of hundreds of police and soldiers, last year guerrillas killed nine pilgrims, 15 in 2001 and 35 in 2000.
For the 2003 trek, security has been further tightened along the route.
While there have been no specific threats against the pilgrims, the government is not taking any chances.
Some 50,000 security men will help state police guard the convoys of devotees, who will travel 245 miles (400km) to the Amarnath cave.
The pilgrims are divided into groups of several thousand.
They will trek through mountain roads and flowered meadows to Pahalgam, a base camp town for the final leg of the journey to the cave.
After a night's rest, most people will walk up the last section to the cave although some others ride on ponies.
Pahalgam is 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, and in the heart of the Kashmir Valley.
But this year's trip has one marked different to the previous treks.
The pilgrims are being asked to pay an insurance premium of 20 rupees (0.4 dollars) for a maximum possible claim 100,000 rupees (2,127 dollars) in case they are shot and killed on the journey.
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