The two consecutive fidayeen attacks targeting Vaishno Devi pilgrims and an Army camp in Jammu has cast its shadow on the annual Amarnath yatra as officials report a drop in the number of pilgrims to the holy cave.From the routine quota of 3,500 pilgrims only 2,800 were reported to have paid obeisance at the holy cave on July 23, while on July 24 it dipped further to around 2,600 pilgrims. The influx dropped more today to 2,516 as 109 vehicles carrying pilgrims left Jammu for the holy cave.A police official from Jammu said: ‘‘For the past few days enthusiasm seems to have waned among the devotees. It could only be attributed to the two suicide attacks that spread fear among the people here. There was a frenzy among the devotees before the attack. But now fear seems to have taken over. This is the peak time when pilgrims vie with each other to visit the Amarnath cave.’’However, officials had witnessed the decline in numbers two days before the militants struck at Katra, killing seven Vaishno Devi pilgrims. On July 19, 2,500 pilgrims undertook the treacherous journey to the holy cave, the lowest batch of yatris since the month-long annual pilgrimage started on July 9. ‘‘It’s was the lowest. But on Sunday it again peaked to the routine quota. Then we had this decline. But we hope it picks up again,’’ added the official.Authorities in Kashmir are, however, careful when attributing the drop to the ‘‘fear factor’’ as they claim the dip was expected. ‘‘After July 20 we were expecting the drop in numbers. But on Sunday we are expecting it to go up again. The drop has not been much and the two suicide attacks couldn’t have been responsible for the decline,’’ a top police official said.The Valley broke the 14-year-old jinx this year as record number of tourists visited the Valley. Last Sunday officials announced that one-lakh holiday-makers had come, with 2000 tourists are arriving daily. So far the authorities are satisfied with the violence-free yatra as no untoward incident had occurred in the first half of the annual pilgrimage.Till yesterday around 1.12 lakh pilgrims had trekked to the cave out of the 1.66 lakh yatris who are camping in Jammu.
