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Hotels and restaurants which are usually packed during the tourism season are almost deserted. (IOL photo) |
Srinagar — Like every day, Ali Mohammed woke up and went to work hoping that his thatched-roof houseboats would be full of clients to avoid returning home empty handed for yet another day.
But the day passed and only a trickle of tourists boarded his boats.
"There was a time when tourists had to book a houseboat a month before they come to Kashmir," a frustrated Mohammed told IslamOnline.net.
Tourism, once a mainstay for economy in India-controlled, Mulsim-majority Kashmir, is hit hard by the ongoing unrest that paralyzed many aspects of life.
It is world-famous for its snow-capped peaks, fast-running rivers and verdant valleys.
"The only resource of our community is tourism," Mohammed sadly says.
Owners of hotels, restaurants and even transportations all feel Mohammed’s pain.
In Kashmir’s most famous tourist sites like Dal Lake, Phalgam and Gulmarg, hotels and restaurants which were usually packed with customers during the May-July tourism season are nearly empty.
Abdul Aziz Tuman, president of Kashmir Houseboat Owners Association, says that since January, only 30 percent foreign tourists have visited the valley compared to the same period last year.
Siraj Ahmad, of the Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association, added that even the locals who used to come for holidays and weekends have vanished.
"When even local people get struck, there is nothing that can be said."
Protests, Strikes, Siege
Thousands of people who earn their livelihood from the handicrafts they sell to tourists complain from the government’s empty promises.
Samad Dar, who works in the handicraft business, says the government announced subsidies for the entrepreneurs who start their units again, but none got anything yet.
"Many factors are responsible for the decrease in number of tourist but the most responsible one is the daily protests and restrictions imposed by state authorities," fumes Tuman.
He noted that the fall in tourists graph began last August after the government's decision to donate local land to a Hindu trust, which triggered the biggest protests against Indian rules in two decades.
The region is currently boiling over the rape and killing of two young Muslim women by Indian troops, which Kashmiris taking to the streets almost every day in protest.
Schools, shops and offices in the summer capital Srinagar were shut on Saturday in a strike to protest at the arrest of Muslim leaders who have led protests over the killings.
Kashmir is divided into two parts and ruled by India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars since the 1947 independence over the region.
Pakistan and the UN back the right of the Kashmir people for self-determination, an option opposed by New Delhi.
"We had planned to spend a month in the valley but the strike forces us to move back," Rahul Rai, who came from the state of Assam with his family, told IOL.
Anita Srivastava, another tourist, says she could hardly go for shopping due to the protests and strikes.
"Most of the things I wanted to buy are available in down town which I found closed every time."
Mohd Sultan, a shopkeeper, heaps blame an all sides.
"Economy is a must for every developed state and what we are doing will one day prove very fatal for Kashmir."
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