Footfalls Of Integration

Not a day passes when the government and BJP leaders don바카라�t talk about the large number of tourists visiting Kashmir as evidence that people in the Valley have started accepting the new political reality created by the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. For almost six months, all hotels, especially in Gulmarg and Pahalgam, had been closed due to the military siege and communication blockade that accompanied the abrogation. In 2020, after the government lifted ­restrictions on travel to the Valley despite the Covid lockdown, 41,267 tourists, including 3,897 foreigners, visited Kashmir바카라�the lowest number since 1990. Since December 2020, however, the number of tourists has gone up drastically바카라�19,102 visited in January alone, 26,180 in February and 47,593 in March.

바카라�Our aim is to bring the golden era back to Kashmir,바카라� says Lt Governor Manoj Sinha. 바카라�We are exploring new destinations. Efforts are afoot to put in place a better infrastructure for ­tourists.바카라� In March, the government organised around a dozen shows to promote tourism. Bollywood singers were brought to the Valley and music festivals organised in the famed ­gardens. 바카라�We have been reading and hearing that Kashmir used to be a ­favourite Bollywood destination in the 1960s, the 바카라�70s, and the 바카라�80s. We will work to bring back the same culture,바카라� says Sinha.

On April 10, Sinha and Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju inaugurated Khelo India Centre of Excellence in Srinagar. Two days later, the Ministry of Tourism organised 바카라�Another Day in Paradise: Tapping the Potential of Kashmir바카라� in Srinagar to project Kashmir as a destination for leisure, adventure and films. Union tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel says Jammu and Kashmir saw a five-fold rise in the number of tourists in January 2021 compared to January 2020. Officials in the tourism department say tourists are visiting Kashmir with a 바카라�changed perception바카라�, now that Kashmir is 바카라�fully integrated바카라� in India. 바카라�They want to see their own Kashmir now,바카라� says an official. 바카라�They also think Kashmiris are happy with the development taking place in the region.바카라� A number of Union ministers and BJP leaders, including Rijiju, are often seen in the Valley these days. Union textiles minister Smriti Irani was recently seen in Srinagar talking to lotus-stem sellers on the banks of the Dal, and other BJP leaders described it as a rare event in the past 70 years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi바카라�s tweet in March asking people to have a glimpse of the 바카라�majestic tulip garden in the foothills of the Zabarwan mountains바카라� in Kashmir has also brought huge focus on the garden. Spread over an area of about 30 hectares, the tulip garden was declared open in 2007 by the then CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, but Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan was brought in to inaugurate it again this year. 바카라�It is beyond doubt that Kashmir is the most beautiful place in the world. People of Kashmir are beautiful, their thoughts are beautiful and their vision is beautiful. This is the people바카라�s legacym which they have inherited from the great Reshis as the Valley is the land of Sufi Reshis who has given Kashmiri people a rich culture, tradition and ethos,바카라� said Khan in his speech at the event.

바카라�If tourists coming to the Valley and visiting the tulip garden is not an indication of peace, then what is?바카라� asks Altaf Thakur, a BJP leader in Kashmir. Congress leader Salman Nizami points out that the government is talking about the tulip garden as if it came up only after the hard work of BJP workers this year and that it could be done only after the abrogation of Article 370.

Locals associated with tourism say there has indeed been an exponential rise in the number of tourists over the past five months. 바카라�We have been arguing that tourism should be seen as a business activity and not mixed with the ­discourse of 바카라�return of normalcy바카라� as it makes the industry vulnerable. But no one listens to us,바카라� says a top hotelier.

By Naseer Ganai in Srinagar