Insurrection, infiltration die down, leaving an enchanting place to the tourists, writes Asia Sentinel’s Siddarth Srivastava
India’s hill stations are brimming with tourists looking to escape the peak summer heat, which in New Delhi can often soar above 45C. This year one destination high on the desired list, against the odds and a violence-scarred past, is Indian Kashmir, with multiple flights from Delhi to Srinagar chock-a-bloc with travelers.
For decades Kashmir was a summer hot spot with several Bollywood blockbuster movies being shot at beautiful locations around the capital of Srinagar, the famous Dal Lake, and the hill resorts of Gulmarg, Sonemarg and Pahelgam to name some. Covering more than 15,000 sq. km, it is one of the most spectacular scenic vistas on earth, lying at the northern tip of India. Densely settled, the Kashmir Valley itself lies at an average height of 1,850 meters, with the northeastern flank of the Himalayas soaring up to an average elevation of 5,000 meters above the valley. The area’s biodiversity runs from subtropical pine up to the tree line, above which is simply rock and ice. The wildflowers are intoxicating.
Kashmiri boatmen row their boats carrying tourists at the Nigeen Lake on a hot summer day in Srinagar. Pic: AP.
Despite the exhilarating natural beauty, however, from the 1980s onwards the region has been the focal point of the bitter rivalry between Pakistan and India. Terrorism began to take a heavy toll on Kashmir’s flourishing tourism industry, the second biggest income earner after horticulture. It was in the summer months that infiltrations from Pakistan were at the maximum due to favorable weather conditions, making the state vulnerable to militant attacks and worsening the situation.
The large tourist inflows are taking place even as the Indian Army – or because it — has reported the lowest levels of infiltration attempts by militants to cross the Line of Control that separates India and Pakistan. The Army has claimed that infiltration this year has been reduced to zero. There is usually a direct link between infiltration levels and terror activity in Kashmir and other parts of the country, as an indicator of the intent and desperation of militants to strike at targets. Last year, the Army reported more than 100 infiltration attempts, in which about 100 ultras were killed.
The lull is the first in the past 20 years along any point in the 550-km Line of Control, the barrier over which India and Pakistan have fought two wars. Nobody is quite sure why the infiltration attempts have ceased, and senior Indian Army officers have warned that activity could pick up again. However, successive elections in the state, which have been certified free and fair by observers, intensified security and a local population keen to win back their livelihoods and incomes has meant that Kashmir is back on the summer map. Tourist income is regarded as crucial to mainstreaming the region’s unemployed youth otherwise susceptible to militant and separatist indoctrination.
Indeed, the recent events are a cause for cheer. According to the latest state government figures tourist arrivals in the Kashmir Valley since January this month have exceeded 500,000, with foreign visitors who are most sensitive to any risk, crossing 15,000. Nearly 50,000 visitors have also visited the Ladakh region using the Srinagar-Leh highway, another sign of newfound confidence in the security measures being taken.
