NEW DELHI: Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir are allowing tourists back into the region two months after ordering them to leave, citing security concerns.
The local government had instructed tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave on Aug. 2, three days before India stripped the Muslim-majority region of its statehood and special semi-autonomous status.
The local government said in a statement Tuesday that the governor has decided after a security review to lift the restrictions on tourists, effective Thursday.
Kashmir’s pristine mountainous landscape, ski resorts, lake houseboats and apple orchards have long made it a tourist attraction.
India imposed a harsh security clampdown, cutting most communications and detaining thousands of people, after stripping the region of its special status.
India to allow tourists back into Kashmir
India to allow tourists back into Kashmir
- The local government had instructed tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave on Aug. 2
- Kashmir’s pristine mountainous landscape, ski resorts, lake houseboats and apple orchards have long made it a tourist attraction
UN experts denounce Switzerland for sentencing students over Gaza protests
- “Peaceful student activism, on and off campus, is part of students’ rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and must not be criminalized,” the UN experts said
GENEVA: UN human rights experts said on Tuesday they had protested to Switzerland after a group of students was sentenced for trespassing after taking part in pro-Palestinian protests at a Swiss-funded university.
Around 70 students at the Swiss university ETH Zurich took part in a peaceful sit-in in May 2024 as part of student demonstrations in several cities during the Gaza war before being dispersed by police.
Students who took part in the protests were opposing the Swiss facility’s partnerships with Israeli universities, the UN experts said.
“Peaceful student activism, on and off campus, is part of students’ rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and must not be criminalized,” the UN experts said, adding that they had written to the Swiss government and the university to raise the issue.
A spokesperson for the Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed it had received the message and that it would respond in due course. An ETH Zurich spokesperson did not immediately respond.
Five students have so far been sentenced for trespassing, resulting in suspended fines of up to 2,700 Swiss francs ($3,516), legal fees of over 2,000 Swiss francs and a criminal conviction on their records which could discourage future prospective employers, the UN experts said.
Ten others who appealed the charges await sentencing and two others were acquitted, they said.
