Kashmir As Normal As Any Other American And European State
The Union Territory of Ladhak in India is totally normal as before and tourist are still flocking to the area even when things have shut down for the yearly Winter.
In fact the public mood is much more vibrant since the area has gained the status of an Union Territory, a long pending demand.
Normalcy has also returned to Kashmir where certain strict measures had to be imposed to foil attempts of Pakistan Supported terrorists groups and their separatist sympathizers, to incite trouble in the region.
After bifurcation of the State of J& K into two UTs of Ladhak and J&K, the majority had to be protected from a violent backlash by the Pakistan supported desperados.
Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in parliament Wednesday firm reply came in response to a section of the opposition lawmakers who criticized the shutdown of the internet and questioned the continued detention of scores of Kashmiri politicians, including an 82-year-old lawmaker.
The opposition forgot that this 82 year old has been now totally exposed as the details of the funding received by him from Pakistan for last so many decades is now out in the open.
The Government of India has now finally clamped down on all terrorist funding, a result yet to be achieved by United Nations with respect to terrorist funding in Pakistan.
Now more than 7 million residents of Kashmir who have been braving Pakistan sponsored separatists since last 70 years and terrorists since last 30 years have started resuming normal lives since creation of the Union Territory of J& K.
To foil the terrorists and any attempts by Pakistan to vitiate the internal security atmosphere, tens of thousands of additional Central Police Forces were deployed to the area and massive security restrictions imposed.
Kashmir Valley India’s only Muslim majority, militancy-hit region is now quite peaceful and so is Jammu a Hindu majority region, a part of the UT of J&K.
Government is now gradually loosening the restrictios and internet blockade and will eventually lift a ban on internet and phone service; but terrorists on both sides of the Line of Control are not unable to communicate with each other or their families.This is frustrating them no end.
However this restriction is also causing a degree of inconvenience
To the normal public but needs to be borne for the greater good.
Shah said a curfew has been lifted, schools and colleges are open, there is no shortage of medicines, food or fuel and the law and order situation has improved with not a single person killed due to police gunfire since August.
“There were many notions spread all over the world. There is total normalcy prevailing,” according to the Home minister.
Congress Opposition lawmaker Ghulam Nabi Azad who is actually from Doda District (Jammu side of Banihal) stated in the parliament that more than three-month-long internet shutdown was unprecedented.
The government on the other has defended it, saying national security and the fight against terrorism are more important.
Authorities say the separatists can use the internet and social media to fuel anti-India protests.
According to Shah, the number of incidents of stone throwing, a popular protest tactic in the region, has dropped from 805 last year to less than 500 this year.
The situation in Kashmir division has improved – markets which used to open for a part of the day are now open for longer periods daily and public transport has returned to the streets.
Residents, however, say lack of access to the internet and restrictions on some mobile services are still hampering the resumption of day-to-day life and business activities.
They forget that because of such restrictions nowadays there have hardly any bomblasts and other such incidents which had become a way of life in Kashmir.
Kashmir is now as peaceful as any place on the US- Mexican border or any part of London or any Country in Europe.
“People in the rest of the whole world donot know that now we the people of Kashmir Valley are able to breathe without fear because of Ssuch estrictions on the ground.,” sad an ordinary Kashmiri.
Kashmiri Conflict Continues to Depress Tourism
Teaser Description
When the Indian government decided in August to abrogate a constitutional provision giving special status to the then state of Jammu and Kashmir, tourist season was at its peak. Tourists in Kashmir were advised by the Indian government to leave the state.
But now the government has rolled back its advisory, just in time for the winter tourist season. VOA’s Ritul Joshi with cameraman Zubair Dar visited Srinagar to see if the decision will help the tourism industry recover its losses.
The region’s main trade body has estimated that business losses have exceeded $1.4 billion since the August clampdown.
New Delhi postponed an investor summit it had planned in Kashmir last month after a spate of attacks blamed on militants in recent weeks. Many tourists have also shunned the picturesque region.
“Development is good, future investment is good, but what about the present businesses which are bleeding?” Ashiq Ahmad asked.
India defended its dramatic move, saying it needed to integrate the Himalayan region with the rest of the country, usher in development and end the separatist insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people.
