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| Pilgrimage, tourism main casualty of prolonged agitation | | | | In the ultimate analysis over the high voltage controversy and movement in Kashmir with regard to the Amarnath pilgrimage and the counter movement in Jammu, which has now been 40 days old it is the pilgrimage that has received a set back. So has the tourism in Kashmir. To start with the objection in Kashmir over extension of the yatra period to two months and much larger number of low budget pilgrims coming for the same, was on the ground that it adversely affects the high budget holiday tourists in Kashmir and particularly in the tourist spots in the vicinity of the shrine. But in the wake of eight day long militant agitation by almost all sections of Kashmiris, instigated by the separatists and religious fundamentalists, it is holiday tourism which has suffered more than even the Amarnath pilgrimage. The valley which was poised for bumper tourism this summer, beating records of last 12 years, when tourism was revived in Kashmir in 1996, after its grinding halt between 1990 and 1996, has become the main casualty of the turmoil in Kashmir. While a good number of tourists staying put in various parts of Kashmir, cut short their stay there and packed up to leave the valley on the first available opportunity to be away from the trouble, many bookings of prospective tourists were cancelled. On the other hand the counter agitation going on in Jammu at present, claimed to be in the interest of Amarnath pilgrimage, has actually adversely affected the rush of pilgrims. During first eight days of commencement of yatra on June 17, about three lakh pilgrims performed the yatra, beating all previous records and in the rest of one month it touched the figure of little over 5 lakh. In the wake of agitation in Kashmir, shut downs, all modes of transport going off the roads, demonstrations held even at places enroute cave shrine and some cases of pelting of stones by the demonstrators on the pilgrims, as well as result of the stand off many pilgrims getting stranded at various places enroute, carried a wrong message all over the country with many prospective pilgrims cancelling their bookings and program of visit. Lately the counter agitation in Jammu with authorities clamping the curfew in several parts of the city and as a result of abnormal conditions prevailing in Jammu, a good number of pilgrims are scared away and the pilgrimage is feared to get a set back. The people of Jammu and mainly the Hindu organizations here, as well as the administration should have made adequate arrangements to ensure that pilgrims in no way feel harassed and put to inconvenience and hardships. But in the heat of controversy and the counter agitation in Jammu claimed to be aimed at protecting and promoting Hindu pilgrimage, the likely adverse affects on the pilgrimage was not taken in view, either by the Hindu organizations in Jammu or by the administrations who clamped curfew in most parts of the region for about one month, without ensuring proper arrangements for the pilgrims. The clamped down of curfew in most parts of Jammu, with all modes of transport coming to a grinding halt and national highway blocked and total shut down all over, Mata Vaishno Devi yatra too has suffered a great set back. |
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