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The rhythm of normal life has returned to Kashmir. It has been a long journey for the valley from the days of fear-filled silence to a tourist haven abuzz with activity,
reports Kumar Rakesh from Srinagar
Over the years, Srinagar’s Lal Chowk has been a witness to militant violence but now the din of ceaseless traffic and the sight of groups of tourists haggling with shopkeepers stand out around this historic city square. Roadside vendors sell CDs and DVDs of Hindi and English movies and songs which are clandestinely mixed with discs of soft porn. Bhojpuri movies are lapped up by labourers from Bihar and eastern UP, descending in large numbers with the onset of summer. Life, as they say, has moved on in the scenic valley of Kashmir and the hubbub of daily life at Srinagar’s most famous address sums it up quite well. Parvez Akhtar, a dry-fruit seller in his sixties who has seen Kashmir’s idyllic life before its descent into violence in 1989, and is now witnessing the revival of normal life, says he used to have nightmares that teeming soldiers would be his only customers. "Some years back wherever one looked, one found hawk-like troops. Civilians kept their distance and tourists, our main customers, never came. I believed that was our permanent fate. But things have changed in the same way as the day follows night," Akhtar says thoughtfully in his lilting Urdu as his assistants deal with customers. Boost to tourism At some distance from Lal Chowk, in the office of the state tourism department, joint director Sarmad Hafeez is busy shooting instructions at publicity agents, travel operators as his department prepares for participation in international travel marts in Dubai and Bahrain this month. The tourism department has already taken part in similar events in London, Paris and Malaysia. From a time not long back when the arrival of any tourist, irrespective of his budget profile, was a bit of positive news, the emphasis has now changed to increasing the number of high-end tourists as people are coming to valley anyway. "We want to attract rich people from outside or Indians who are going abroad for fun," he says. So there are upcoming adventure projects like white water rafting in Pahalgam and Sonmarg and trekking routes opened in different regions. For the first time, Gurez, a picture postcard tourist spot near LoC (which earlier required permission to visit due to security reasons), and the Bangus valley have been opened to tourists. According to an official source, there has been a jump of 120 per cent, from the previous year in the number of tourists. The Tourism Department officially refrains from giving out figures because this practice had provoked militants into targeting tourists in 2006. Reports put the last year numbers at over five lakh, including more than 25,000 foreigners. If the department manages to double the figure this year, which it hopes to, it would be nothing short of a coup. In anticipation of moneyed visitors, mostly from abroad, the number of centrally heated hotels in Gulmarg has gone up to 12 from two in 2006. The golfing circuit is set to be completed at this famous ski resort before September. In Pahalgam, the nine-hole golf range is turning into a 18-hole course by October. to attract golfers, the government is massively advertising its beautiful Royal Spring golf course in Srinagar across the world. If it is successful, this would be an automatic publicity coup for the government among the high-end global tourists. Life returns Old-timers like Houseboat Owners Association’ vice-chairman GM Pakhtoon says it would be wrong to judge the change in the valley against the cold figures of the numbers of tourists. Business depends upon many things, he says. "Militants will always try to disrupt things as this suits them. If they manage to scare away tourists by killing a few of them as they did in 2006, it would not mean much in the long term in the valley’s life even though the outside world will be preoccupied with it." What Pakhtoon means is not hard to understand. Crowded market places, upcoming malls, though not on the same scale as visible in the winter capital Jammu, entertainment-starved youths hanging around in cyber cafes till late evenings and innumerable parks and gardens tell a story which could be fully appreciated by only those like him who have seen "life in a war zone" in 1990s. As the hold of militants over the social order becomes a thing of the past and reactive posturing and the interference of troops have been reduced to the bare minimum, at least in urban areas, Kashmiris are breathing easy and are more confident of their ways than they were in the past. Old ways Mohammed Hasrat, a writer, says Kashmir has always been a conservative but progressive Muslim society. Women have always enjoyed more freedom than was traditionally available elsewhere among Indian Muslims. Not many liked it when militants started dictating the dress code to them. Also, working in offices was considered a taboo. In the more progressive Srinagar, one can count as many number of girls in schools and colleges as boys and they are conspicuous by their presence in private banks and other offices. Fewer people are listening to radical Islamic ideologist like Asiya Andrabi, who shot into headlines with her and women activists’ attack on "obscene" couples and girls dressed "immodestly", continues with her tirade against "corrupting culture" in her public statements. her. Left to themselves, young couples are now more emboldened while meeting at public parks or walking along the spruced-up banks of the Jhelum river, or even canoodling, considered a sacrilege in the traditional Kashmiri society, in cyber caf`E9’s cubicles. Changed scene In Kashmir Univeristy,
once considered the fountain of militant ideology, there is a change
in the past few years as far as the subjects of discussion are
concerned. As the university takes steps under the stewardship of its
Vice-Chancellor Riyaz Punjabi to regain its lost space in the
educational map of India, the students are more concerned about the
limited choice of careers since government jobs are shrinking and the private sector remains at bay. “I have relatives who were bright students in their colleges and their families believed they were destined to have a good career. When insurgency broke out, they had no opportunities as governance went defunct. One of my uncles runs a taxi and another has a confectionery shop. I will never allow their fate to visit me,” says Manzoor Ali, who is doing his masters. To grab a career in booming economy in Indian metros, more and more youths are enrolling for English-speaking courses. “There may be more peace but is it enough to sustain a society? There are hardly any jobs, after finishing my education, I will either go to Bangalore or Hyderabad,” he says. Cautious optimism The mood in Kashmir is optimistic but also cautious. Some people like Pakhtoon believe that the peace is not being complemented with economic activity, which would bring along prosperity and jobs. He says if government manages to bring industrial houses to the valley, it will ensure normalcy. “If you give unemployed people work and money, they would not like anything that threatens them.” Things are, of course, much better but the people have a lot of catching-up to do, says Kamal Sharma, a regular tourist. He says beautiful as the Valley is, there is still a little tension in the air. The city should offer more entertainment and there is nothing to do except to walk along the Dal lake in the name of night life. “I wonder how the youth here spend their evenings,” he says. If the assembly elections pass off successfully and India-Pakistan talks remain positive, the tide will turn completely for the valley. For the first time in two decades of violence, fatalities related with militancy came below 800 in 2007, and only 164 of these were civilians.
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