SRINAGAR, 30 May 2004 — The Kashmir capital — where violent protests against Indian rule are common — is now facing a radically different breed of protesters much to the administration’s relief.
Hordes of tourists are staging noisy demonstrations almost daily in Srinagar’s downtown Lal Chowk area demanding government intervention to stop greedy hotel, houseboat and taxi owners from fleecing visitors.
Recently Kashmir’s Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed ordered the police to arrest anyone caught over-charging tourists. Sayeed also appealed to ordinary Kashmiris to throw open their homes to tourists to help authorities cope with the unexpected rush.
After a long gap, Indians and foreigners are flocking to the restive Himalayan region — once described by a Persian poet as “the paradise on earth” — thanks to the sharp decline in violence after India and Pakistan signed a cease-fire agreement six months ago.
According to the tourism commissioner, Najim Naquib, all rooms in hotels and houseboats dotting Srinagar’s picturesque Dal Lake are fully booked. So are all flights to Srinagar’s heavily guarded airport.
And with a record number of Indians fleeing the sun-baked plains for Kashmir’s major attractions — Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg — it’s virtually impossible to get a berth in trains to Jammu, the railhead gateway to the picture postcard province.
Tour operators are jubilant as scores of chartered buses wind their way along the Jammu-Srinagar highway every day packed with tourists from all corners of India.
Dubbed Switzerland of the East, Kashmir was once India’s top tourist destination luring one million visitors each year to its snow-capped mountains, pine forests, glaciers, rivers, lakes and orchards.
But since 1989, militancy and separatist violence sounded the death knell of the tourist industry — Kashmir’s biggest revenue earner.
But the new state government headed by Sayeed which took office in November 2002 pulled out all stops to allay fears and woo back tourists.
And thanks to its efforts, 100,000 tourists came last year triggering a revival of sorts.
“But this year is like a dream come true. So far, we have recorded 75,000 arrivals. The estimate for the full summer tourist season ending in July is over 300,000”, said Salim Beg, tourism director-general.
Beg said that one of the highlights of the current influx is the return of high-spending Western tourists, including foreign trekkers.
Last week, the state government organized a golf tournament for New Delhi-based diplomats and top officials belonging to 42 multinational companies.
Authorities are even selling Kashmir’s war zones to tourists. The tourism department is frantically marketing Kashmir’s Kargil region — where a short border conflict claimed the lives of 1,000 Indian and Pakistani soldiers in 1998 — to woo visitors.
Among the spots being aggressively marketed in Kargil are Drass, Tiger Hills and Tololing Heights which witnessed some of the fiercest fighting between Indian and Pakistani troops before a timely cease-fire thanks to US intervention.
“Every Indian wants to visit the battle scenes. And tourists are using the same road — which cuts through the Zojila Pass — that was used by Indian troops to defend their country”, Beg said.
