Kashmir Valley Reopens For Tourists After Two Months; Govt Assures All Help

Several tourists, pilgrims and students from different parts of the country had to leave Jammu and Kashmir early August as the state administration issued a security alert over possible terrorists attacks.

Around 25,000 tourists and visitors had to leave Jammu and Kashmir before the Central government effectively scrapped Article 370. (File Photo/ Getty)

Srinagar: As Jammu and Kashmir slowly heads towards normality, the state administration on Thursday reopened the Valley for tourists after more than two months of lockdown post the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5. The government had asked all the tourists and pilgrims to leave the state before it made the big announcement of ending the special status for Jammu and Kashmir. Following the instruction of Governor Satya Pal Malik earlier this week, the Jammu and Kashmir's Home Department released an advisory dated October 9, lifting the travel ban. "The tourists desirous of undertaking visiting to the state shall be provided all necessary assistance and logistical support," the order says. Several tourists, pilgrims and students from different parts of the country had to leave Jammu and Kashmir early August as the state administration issued a security alert over possible terrorists attacks. According to reports, as many as 25,000 tourists and visitors had to leave Jammu and Kashmir before the Central government effectively scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution that accorded special status to the state, and divided it into two union territories.

Govt of Jammu & Kashmir: Security advisory requesting tourists visiting J&K to curtail their stay in the Kashmir valley, is hereby withdrawn. Tourists desirous of undertaking visiting to the state shall be provided all necessary assistance & logistical support. pic.twitter.com/LOUcFT7x4u

— ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2019

Governor Malik had on Monday directed that the two-month old advisory asking tourists to leave the valley be lifted from October 10, and also took stock of preparations for the upcoming block development council elections. As per reports, Malik held a situation cum Security Review Meeting on Monday with the Advisors and the Chief Secretary. The Governor has been holding Situation cum Security Review Meetings on a daily basis for two hours generally from 6 to 8 p.m. each day since August 5. Initially, the meetings focussed on reviewing the security scenario following the imposition of restrictions after constitutional changes that were made. For the past six weeks, all the security restrictions were removed in most parts of J&K, the Governor has been focussing on bringing life back to normal. Some of the major decisions taken in the past in the Situation cum Security Review Meetings include reopening of Higher Secondary Schools; Colleges and Universities; restarting public transport; opening additional travel counters at TRC Srinagar; opening 25 internet kiosks in each district to facilitate the public and Government departments; monitoring attendance in Government offices, etc, a statement from the Governor's office said. Telephone and internet services were suspended and public movements were restricted in many parts of Jammu and Kashmir hours before the Central government announced its Article 370 move. The government also imposed security restrictions and also detained several politicians including some bigwigs of the valley such as PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah. They were charged under the “public order” section of the Public Safety Act, which allows authorities to detain a person for six months without trial. According to some estimates, almost 400 politicians in the state were detained following the Centre’s crackdown. Kashmir is said to be the backbone of India's tourism industry and is experiencing one of its worst phases as they valley is without tourists since last two months. As per the official figure, more than 1.7 lakh tourists visited Kashmir in the month of June, followed by around 1.5 lakh in July. However, there is no official count on number of tourists the Valley had in August.