Srinagar, June 1
Anger is building up across the Kashmir valley against the militants who have been targeting innocent tourists over the past fortnight with the objective of hurting the northern state's economy in their quest for getting nationwide publicity.

Wednesday evening's attack on tourists who were travelling by a bus towards the Dal Lake area has only heightened the sense of resentment of the locals towards these frustrated perpetrators of violence and mayhem.

So deep is the sense of anguish and worry over the latest attack that shutters of shops and businesses were pulled down in Srinagar on Thursday as a mark of protest over the twin tragedies.

Locals said that they were hurt by the trauma that their guests were being subjected to, adding that such acts of violence would only result in the crippling of the Jammu and Kashmir economy, which was heavily dependent on tourism, an economy that was in the process of revival after over a decade and a half of bloodshed and instability.

"There has been a grenade attack on a tourist bus and a lot of the tourists have been injured. The people here are angry that the visitors were hurt. We are upset that this adversely affects the tourism industry, which is of key importance here," said Shabir Ahmed, a trader.

Ahmed's words of concern and anxiety are reflected in the way that tourists have started cutting short their stay in Srinagar and in other parts of the picturesque Kashmir valley. Farooq Ahmed Shah, Director of Jammu and Kashmir Tourism, believes that the militants see the tourists as soft targets. He believes that the impact of such violent incidents will deter people from the rest of India and abroad from coming to Srinagar or any other place in the Kashmir valley to spend their holidays.

This, he adds, could once again affect the revenue earning capacity of hotels, shikaras and handicrafts.

"The aim appears to be to spook tourism, which was on the road to recovery and giving the local economy much-needed oxygen. We have nothing to say now. Earlier, we tried to play down the frequent attacks on tourists, but now we have lost the courage to request the people to visit Kashmir," Shah was quoted as saying by a paper.

Jammu and Kashmir's Minister for Tourism Muzaffar Hussain Baig said the public should realise the motives of the militants in targeting the tourists, especially at a time when the tourist season is at its peak in the state.

Mohammad Azim Tuman, president of the Houseboat Owners Association in Srinagar, endorses this view that the terrorists have only one clear motive — to destroy the northern state's tourism industry.

He was quoted by a paper as saying "I see vested interests trying to create fear among the tourists. We have received fresh bookings for houseboats, but Wednesday's attacks seem to take away everything." There is no doubt that Wednesday's attacks will have a delimitating impact on the famed Kashmiri hospitality. More than 6,00,000 tourists visited Kashmir last year — a record since the advent of militancy.

Wednesday's attacks, the second in the past week, have jolted the tourism sector. So far about 1.8 lakh tourists have visited the Kashmir valley and government officials were expecting the holiday-making population to go up to one million this season, but the attacks have for the time being put paid to such hopes. — ANI

Srinagar, June 1
The recent explosions in which tourist vehicles were targeted have adversely affected the tourist arrivals in Kashmir at a time when the graph had started showing an encouraging trend. But tourists, already here, feel that there was no scare as they moved around freely.

At least 36 tourists from West Bengal were injured in two grenade explosions at two buses carrying them at Dalgate here last evening. In another incident four tourists were killed and six others, all of them from Gujarat, were injured in a similar explosion on their vehicle near Hazratbal here minutes after the return of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, after concluding the second roundtable conference here last Thursday.

“The incidents have affected the tourist arrivals and there have been some cancellations”, said Mr Farooq Ahmad Shah, Director, Tourism Department, Jammu and Kashmir Government. Many tourists were visiting various tourist attractions like the Dal lake and other destinations of Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg.

Describing the incidents as “unfortunate”, Mr Shah held that certain elements were trying to damage tourism, which was on the revival path after a long time.

Responding to the “different nature” of the recent attacks on tourist buses, the Jammu and Kashmir Police is constituting a special investigating team. “These attacks are different because tourists have not been attacked by militants so far” in the valley, said Mr Farooq Ahmad, DIG Police, Kashmir Range.

The militant organisations claimed that they were not responsible for these attacks. Therefore, it is necessary to find out who were responsible for the attacks, the DIG Police said.

Those associated with the tourist trade have condemned the attacks and urged the government to look into the matter since several militant organisations had claimed that these were not behind such attacks.

The APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and others had also expressed concern over such attacks that were aimed at damaging the image of Kashmiris outside the state. Various tourist trade organizations, which condemned the attacks, include Houseboat Owners Association, Kashmir Hotel associations and the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir.

“The government should find out who are responsible for such attacks”, said a houseboat owner. Two of his associates, claiming to be eyewitnesses to the two attacks here yesterday, held that these explosions were “different in nature and no pedestrians were injured”.

“Tourism industry had gone into oblivion. However, tourist flow was in the process of picking up, giving hope to the people dependent on it”, a spokesman of these associations said. A joint meeting of these unions appealed “every citizen to play his role to protect and safeguard the incoming tourists and the tourism industry as a whole”.

A day after the latest attacks tourist presence was slack at Nehru Park on Boulevard, which normally remains humming with tourists during summer months. Mohammad Ashraf is among a number of shikarawalas at Nehru Park Shikara Stand, waiting for customers for a ride.

He lamented that there had been a “50 per cent decline in the number of tourists due to yesterday’s attacks”, adding that many had returned only this morning out of fear. 

Srinagar, June 1
Five militants, including a Batallion Commander (BC) of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), were killed while a camp of Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police was attacked in the Kashmir valley overnight, official sources said today.

They said a HM commander Ayub Thakur was killed in an encounter at Tral in Pulwama district of South Kashmir last night.

The encounter started after a search party was attacked by the militants, sources said.

Six houses, three cow sheds, two kothars and one shops were gutted after security forces allegedly fired mortar shells during the encounter.

Sources said immediately after the cordon was lifted hundreds of people, mostly women took to streets today, in protest against security forces for damaging the property.

The demonstrators also alleged they were confined to their houses by the security forces for two days. They said more than a dozen persons were tortured by the security forces during the search operation.

A defence ministry spokesman said troops of 53 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) conducted a search operation at Pakharpora in the central Kashmir district of Badgam yesterday.

When the troops were sealing the area, militants opened fire on the troops. The fire was returned and in the ensuing gun battle two militants identified as Firdous Ahmad, a resident of Pakistan and Ashiq Ahmad were killed. Two AK rifles and other arms and ammunitiion were recovered from the slain militants.

Sources said an HM militant Bilal Ahmad was killed by security forces in an encounter at Suran Kokernag in South Kashmir district of Anantnag last night. The encounter started after a search party was attacked by the militants.

Militants shot dead a released ultra of HM Azad Ahmad at Moradabad Shopian in Pulwama district today.

Sources said militants fired two rifle grenades towards SOG camp at Pattan in Baramulla district late last night. The grenades missed the intended target and exploded without causing any damage.

Militants attacked a police party at Sharmal Shopian in Pulwama district today. There was no report of casuality in the incident, they said adding militants later managed to escape. — UNI

Jammu, June 1
Following a step up in terrorist violence, the Army and Central security forces are being deployed in strength to take care of the security aspects for pilgrims to the Amarnath shrine on the nearly 400- km route starting from Lakhanpur which is the entry point into the state from Punjab.

The two-month pilgrimage will begin on June 11 in south Kashmir when more than five lakh pilgrims are expected to visit the shrine.

The sudden spurt in violence was worrying the authorities because pilgrims had been targeted by militants several times in the past.

The three-day trek route between Pahalgam and the shrine and the route between Baltal to the shrine are being sanitised by the security forces that have taken up positions at strategic points. Sniffer dogs are also being deployed.

Soldiers will be deployed on the nearly 300-km road stretch between here and the valley.

J&K Bank has started registering pilgrims from May 28. A statewise quota for issuing yatra slips has been fixed by the board.