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Kashmir : Terrorist attack tourists |
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Unnerved by a massive flow of tourists into the Kashmir Valley, terrorists struck twice on tourists in the fourth week of last month in a bid to scare them away. But they did not succeed completely in their objective as tourists already in the valley were not packing their bags and leaving. Tourism Department officials said the visitors’ rush was normal and tourists were not leaving in panic. Tourism Director Farooq Ahmad Shah said, “Such unfortunate incidents can influence the tourism industry, but the widespread condemnation of the attacks has encouraged tourists to stay back.”
While the tourists in the Valley may not be leaving, people who were planning to visit Kashmir are certainly reconsidering the matter. In Kolkata, travel agents said the attack on tour¬ists in the Valley has frightened people into canceling visits to Jammu and Kashmir. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that attacks are a conspiracy against the state’s tourism industry. It appealed to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to ensure that the culprits are brought to book.
On May 31, thirty tourists were injured when two tourist vehicles from West Bengal were hit by a grenade in Srinagar. Earlier, on May 26, a bomb attack on a tourist bus at Batapora village left four tourists from Gujarat dead and six injured.
Despite the terrorist attacks on tourists, 2000 visitors, including foreigners arrived in Srinagar on Saturday, June 3. The leader of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, condemned the attack and said the attackers were not Kashmiris. The chairman of the hardline Hurriyat fac¬tion, Syed Ali shah Geelani said, “There can be no words to condemn such incidents involving civilians. Islam does not allow such a thing.” In a statement, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said, “by resorting to such dastardly attacks, the perpetrators intend to scare the people to stay away from the valley.”
Reports from Srinagar say that the general sentiment in the valley is that such attacks sponsored by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba are against Kashmiri ethos and clearly the doing of an external power which seeks to hurt Kashmir’s economy. With more attacks and less tourists, a major source of income will dis¬sipate and people may have to leave the valley in search of jobs elsewhere.
Normal life in Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir was hit on Thursday, June 1, following a strike call by separatist organ¬isations to protest against the alleged negligence of the Navy leading to the boat tragedy on Wular lake killing 21 children and one teacher. The Army has announced a compensation of Rs. 11 lakh for the affected families. Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has ordered a judicial inquiry into the drowning of school child¬ren.
Two blasts rocked Srinagar last week. A constable was killed and six others injured in grenade attacks carried out by terrorists in Srinagar city.
Tussle between Congress-PDP
Meanwhile, relations between the two major constituents of the Ghulam Nabi Azad Government - the Congress and the People’s Democracy Party - are deteriorating. After locking horns over the issue of supporting discussion of the idea of self-rule, de-militarization and scrapping of Armed Forces Special Powers Act, former Chief Minister and PDP leader, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, has cautioned the Congress against treading alone on the road to peace. Addressing a party workers’ convention in Jammu on June 2, the Mufti advised the Congress to adhere to coalition dharma and listen with patience to the view point of coalition partn¬ers.
A Congress Minister on the other hand said that the PDP is working, more or less, as a hostile party. PDP Ministers are absent at crucial cabinet meetings and rarely attend office. Congress party functionaries said since the PDP Ministers hold important portfolios - Finance, Planning, Agriculture, Irriga¬tion, Forests, Urban Development and Tourism - their absence adversely affects the working of the Government. There are four PDP Ministers including Deputy Chief Minister Muzzafar Hussain Beg in the 10-member state cabinet.
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