'We in Kashmir will ensure that this kind of incident does not happen again.'
IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: / Rediff.com
Tourists have started cancelling their trips to Kashmir.
The killing of 26 tourists at Pahalgam in Kashmir by terrorists of The Resistance Front has caused a huge setback to the travel industry in Jammu and Kashmir.
Post the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the tourism sector had peaked in Kashmir valley.
And there is statistics prove it.
In 2020, there were only 34.7 lakh tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, largely due to the Covid effect and lockdown across the country, but then things started opening up and so did the valley’s tourism sector.
In 2021, 1.1 crore tourists visited J-K, which went up to 1.9 crore in 2022.
The trend continued again for the next two years -- 2023 there were 2.1 crore tourists who went to J-K and in 2024 all records were broken with 2.3 crore tourists visiting the border Union territory.
But post the Pahalgam terror attack, tour operators in Kashmir are feeling the brunt already as many people have started cancelling their trips to the valley.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com spoke to Rauf Tramboo, president, Travel Agents Association of Kashmir, to gauge the situation.
How do the travel and tour operators view the killing of 26 tourists in a terrorist attack in Pahalgam?
This is not only an attack on the tourism industry of Kashmir but also a direct attack on Kashmir.
You know the fact that we have been battling terrorism for very long in Kashmir valley and it was only recently that we got peace in Kashmir.
This resulted in a boom in the tourism sector in Kashmir as lakhs of tourists came to the valley. Everyone here had work after being unemployed for many years and suddenly what happened yesterday has shocked all of us.
In our wildest dreams we did not expect terrorism to pick up again in Kashmir. We all condemn the killings of tourists as this was a very gruesome act and whoever is our enemy must be identified and shot in public.
We all are saddened by this news.
Will the terror attack affect the tourism sector in Kashmir?
We will suffer losses for sure. Tourists will think twice now to visit Kashmir.
But our loss is nothing compared to the tourists who lost their loved ones in this terror attack. This loss can never be recovered.
We tour operators of Kashmir are very disturbed mentally because we fought terrorism for so many years only to see it get defeated. Now once again they are getting active and we Kashmiris are all going to fight back.
Right now, across Kashmir there is a bandh call because we all are very sad as to what happened yesterday.
Tourists were never attacked before so why now?
Tourism picks up only in places where peace exists. A man who comes to holiday in Kashmir with his family will first think of his security. The Government of India has to be credited for this because they successfully created an atmosphere of peace in Kashmir which saw tourism getting a boost. Kashmir had turned peaceful, therefore this attack took place.
Is this a conspiracy to finish off tourism in Kashmir?
Not only to finish off tourism in Kashmir but also the Jammu Kashmir state.
These terrorists want to show Kashmir in a bad light, therefore they attacked tourists.
This attack directly results in losses for Kashmir and, once again, our loss is nothing to compare to the families of people who died in the terror attack.
Do you feel it will be difficult for you to get tourists back to Kashmir after this incident?
We want to assure tourists that we will do our best to ensure that terrorism does not pick up in Kashmir once again.
We don’t have law and order in our hands but our request to the government would be that this kind of incident must not repeat.
What are the locals of Pahalgam stating?
This happened in their backyard and now they feel ashamed.
But this incident could have happened anywhere, be it Gulmarg or even Srinagar.
This time terrorists chose Pahalgam and it was very unfortunate that we saw deaths.
Is it true that terrorists segregated Hindu tourists and killed them?
Terrorism has no religion and so do terrorists. The objective of terrorists is to spread terrorism and they will ensure that the people of two communities, who are Hindus and Muslims, must fight with each other. This can be a planned conspiracy from their side.
Terrorists conspired and sent a message that they have come to kill Hindus only and not Kashmiri locals.
But here in Kashmir we all live like brothers and 99 percent of tourists in Kashmir are our Hindu brothers. This is a planned strategy of terrorists to spread Hindu-Muslim propaganda in Kashmir so that they can create a rift and divide the two communities.
If you are a human you look others as human rather than Hindu or Muslim.
These terrorists have no religion and have only one agenda, to spread terror.
Are you getting cancellations of bookings from tourists after Tuesday’s killings?
Tourists have started cancelling their trips to Kashmir. Many people who wanted to come tomorrow or day after tomorrow have already cancelled their tour.
This magnitude of attack will surely instill fear in the minds of tourists and we too are expecting that there will be cancellation of tourists to Kashmir.
But let me assure everyone: we in Kashmir will ensure that this kind of incident does not happen again.
What must the government do to restore the confidence of the people?
Security has to be there at tourist places.
Secondly, we want they should build confidence among the tourist population that they should not give up on traveling to Kashmir.
India has 29 states and every state is like a part of the human body. Kashmir too is a part of that body which is called India. And now if a part of your body gets infected by disease that does not mean you cut that part of the body and throw it. You need to put medicine on that infected part of the body and cure it.
In the same way you need to treat Kashmir problem. Terrorism is not good for Kashmir as well as India.