No place is safe, come to Kashmir

SRINAGAR: No place is absolutely safe, so why stay away from Kashmir? That is J&K tourism minister Mohammad Dilawar Mir’s line, aimed at bringing back tourists to ‘not-so-troubled’ Kashmir.

“Should people stop going to Delhi or Mumbai because of the bomb blasts? Have they stopped visiting Gujarat after the riots? So why not come to Kashmir?” asks Mir, who plans to meet people outside the state to say that the Valley shouldn’t be singled out as a dangerous destination. People associated with the trade too feel Kashmir gets unnecessary bad press for sporadic incidents of violence.

“Mumbai, Delhi and other places too had terror attacks. But the stories were about people fighting back and defying terror, which helped restore confidence. Only in Kashmir has the attack on tourists invited a kind of ‘sanctions’ and ruined the sector,” says Nazir A Bakshi, former president of the Travel Association of India, /R Kashmir chapter.

Tourism planners have picked up Mir’s approach to build a case for domestic tourist inflow.

Abdul Razaq Dar, 55, a shikara-owner on Dal Lake, says he used to earn Rs 300-400 daily until May. “After the blasts, getting even Rs30 is difficult,” laments Dar, president of the Shikara Union.

All that could change, with a major tourism festival being planned in October to lure tourists to Kashmir.