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Amarnath Yatris are our Guests, We are not Terrorists as Indian Media Portrays Us, Say Kashmiris

Sagrika Kissu |
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in entire Kashmir, ahead of Amarnath Yatra.
Amarnath Yatra

Devendra Singh has been running a renowned restaurant in Phalgham for past 18 years, but for the last 2-3 years, he has witnessed a sharp decline of tourists. Devendra is not the only one, Mohammad Hussain is also facing the same problem. To them, low tourist footfall has affected their business immensely. Pahalgam which is famous for its picturesque beauty is also the inception point for the Amarnath yatris and it has suffered a big blow after the unrest of 2016.

Our restaurant business was doing well until July 8. As the news of Burhan Wani’s killing spread, the count of yatris started decreasing. Gone are the days when tourists used to wait and line up outside my restaurant. Nowadays, there is no one. I have suffered the maximum loss in last three years. I am running this restaurant for the last 18 years,” told Devendra to Newsclick.

Locals and businessmen blamed media houses for portraying the wrong image of Kashmir. “Indian media has portrayed us Kashmiris in a wrong manner because of which our business is suffering. Yatris are our guests. Even we go to Hajj and Hindus go to Amarnath, why would we try to hurt them,” Mohammad said.

According to recent figures revealed by the tourism sector in Kashmir, state’s economy had suffered a loss of around Rs 3,000 crore due to unrest which broke out on July 9, 2016. According to the officials, the tourism destinations and hotels both in private and government sector had been worst affected during the unrest. In 2017, the hoteliers witnessed 15-20 per cent occupancy contrary to 70-80 per cent occupancy previously.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in entire Kashmir, ahead of Amarnath Yatra. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her one-day long visit, conducted an aerial survey of the yatra route to review the security arrangements along the route.

Ahead of the yatra, in a new audio purportedly released on June 26 by Riyaz Naikoo, the commander of Hizbul Mujahideen has assured Amarnath pilgrims that they have nothing to fear as long as they visit Kashmir to fulfil their religious duties. The 15-minute clip, said, “Our fight is only against India’s occupation of Jammu and Kashmir. We have nothing against the people of India or Amarnath pilgrims who come here for religious reasons. However, they should not connect the pilgrimage to the political issue of Kashmir.”

We have hundreds of thousands of Biharis (non-locals) who come to Kashmir as labourers or beggars and are found in every nook and corner of the Valley. Has there been any instance of them being harassed in so many years? Their girls and young women can be seen begging but no one has ever been touched,” the Hizbul commander said in the audio clip.

Militants are fighting with the government, not with the tourists. They won’t gain anything by harming tourists. They don’t even hurt the locals in Kashmir. After Amarnath, tourists visit Srinagar and travel South Kashmir. Why don’t they give them security there? Media has played a huge role in portraying Kashmiris as terrorists. They have induced this fear and they are trying to suppress by ruining our economy. But we won't bend down. We will keep fighting,” said a local on the basis of anonymity.

 

 

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