DATE=6/24/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43713
TITLE=KASHMIR TOURISM
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=SRINIGAR
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FOR CENTURIES, WRITERS AND POETS HAVE CALLED THE KASHMIR
VALLEY PARADISE ON EARTH. SURROUNDED BY SNOW CAPPED PEAKS, THE
VALLEY IS DOTTED WITH LAKES, FRUIT ORCHARDS, PINE FORESTS AND
ALPINE MEADOWS. TOURISTS USED TO FLOCK TO KASHMIR BUT FEW DO
NOW. WITH INDIAN ARMY TROOPS FIGHTING WHAT THEY CALL
PAKISTAN-BACKED INFILTRATORS ON KASHMIR'S MOUNTAIN PEAKS AND
INDIAN SECURITY FORCES HUNTING FOR ISLAMIC MILITANTS IN THE
KASHMIR VALLEY, KASHMIR HAS BECOME PARADISE LOST. VOA'S JIM
TEEPLE REPORTS THIS HAS BEEN AN ESPECIALLY PAINFUL YEAR FOR
KASHMIR BECAUSE JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO IT SEEMED TO MANY THEIR
TROUBLES WERE OVER.
// ACT OF HELICOPTER FLYING //
TEXT: IF YOU COULD IGNORE THE MILITARY HELICOPTERS TAKING OFF
AND LANDING, AND THE HUNDREDS OF TROOP TRANSPORT TRUCKS LINED UP
ALONG ITS MAIN STREET, THE SMALL TOWN OF SONOMARG COULD PASS FOR
AN ALPINE VILLAGE IN SWITZERLAND.
A LITTLE MORE THAN A MONTH AGO SONOMARG WAS BUSTLING. FOLLOWING
A VISIT TO PAKISTAN BY INDIA'S PRIME MINISTER IN FEBRUARY AND A
BELIEF THAT A NINE-YEAR OLD INSURGENCY BY ISLAMIC MILITANTS IN
KASHMIR WAS WANING, TOURISTS WHO HAD STAYED AWAY RETURNED BY THE
THOUSANDS TO SONOMARG AND OTHER TOURIST DESTINATIONS IN KASHMIR.
THAT WAS BEFORE INDIAN ARMY PATROLS STUMBLED ONTO HUNDREDS OF
HEAVILY ARMED GUERRILLAS IN THE STEEP MOUNTAIN RIDGES WHICH
OVERLOOK SONOMARG AND OTHER TOWNS IN KASHMIR. IN THE WEEKS SINCE
THEN, INDIAN AND PAKISTANI FORCES HAVE BEEN EXCHANGING ARTILLERY
FIRE ACROSS THE LINE OF CONTROL THAT DIVIDES THE KASHMIR REGION
BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN. NOW SONOMARG'S SMALL HOTELS SIT
NEARLY EMPTY AND PONIES WHO USED TO FERRY TOURISTS TO NEARBY
GLACIERS STAND IDLY BY. RAMZAN BODOO WHO RUNS A SMALL REST HOUSE
AND SHOP IN SONOMARG SAYS HE HAS LITTLE TO DO.
// BODOO ACT //
WE DON'T SEE ANYTHING HERE. WE WAKE UP EVERY MORNING
AND OPEN THE SHOPS AND JUST LOOK.
// END ACT //
// OPT // SONOMARG IS AS FAR AS TOURISTS CAN TRAVEL IN KASHMIR.
THE TOWN IS A STAGING AREA FOR INDIA'S ARMY, WHICH IS FIGHTING
ABOUT 100 KILOMETERS TO THE NORTH. WHILE MOST TOURISTS HAVE
FLED, SONOMARG IS NOT YET A TOURIST GHOST TOWN. A FEW HARDY
VISITORS CONTINUE TO MAKE THE 150-KILOMETER TRIP FROM SRINIGAR,
THE SUMMER CAPITAL OF INDIA'S JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE. AMIT
GOKHALE, HIS FATHER ASHOK AND THEIR UNCLE R-B BAPAT SAY THE FRESH
MOUNTAIN AIR AND NEARBY HINDU SHRINES PUT SONOMARG AT THE TOP OF
THEIR ITINERARY WHEN THEY DECIDED TO VISIT KASHMIR. BESIDES THEY
SAY THE THOUSANDS OF TROOPS GARRISONED IN THE TOWN MAKE THEM FEEL
SAFE.
// ASHOK/BAPAT ACT //
THESE PEOPLE ARE HERE FOR OUR PROTECTION, THEY ARE HERE
TO PROTECT US ... YES...WE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF OUR
OWN PEOPLE...KASHMIRI'S ARE OUR OWN PEOPLE AND WE ARE
NOT AFRAID OF OUR OWN PEOPLE.
// END ACT // // END ACT //
SOUTH OF SONOMARG, IN THE KASHMIR VALLEY INTRICATELY CARVED
HOUSEBOATS, MANY BEAUTIFULLY FURNISHED WITH CHANDELIERS AND
KASHMIR CARPETS SIT EMPTY ON SRINIGAR'S DAL LAKE. THE LAKE AND
THE TOWN WHICH SURROUNDS ITS RESEMBLES AN ARMED CAMP. TOURISTS
WHO WANT TO TAKE A SHIKARA OR GONDOLA RIDE AROUND DAL LAKE HAVE
TO STOP AT SMALL POLICE STATIONS TO SIGN IN AND HAVE THEIR PAPERS
OR PASSPORTS CHECKED.
BETWEEN MARCH AND MAY, BEFORE THE FIGHTING BEGAN, MORE THAN
100-THOUSAND TOURISTS VISITED KASHMIR, WITH MOST STAYING IN
SRINIGAR.
EIGHTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD ABDUL SAMID KOTROO, WHO HAS BEEN THE HEAD OF
THE DAL LAKE HOUSEBOAT OWNERS ASSOCIATION FOR NEARLY A HALF
CENTURY, SAYS HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAD NOT SEEN SO MANY VISITORS
SINCE KASHMIR'S INSURGENCY BEGAN NINE YEARS AGO. BUT THEN
FIGHTING STARTED IN KARGIL, A TOWN IN NORTHERN KASHMIR ALONG THE
LINE OF THE CONTROL. ABDUL SAMID KOTROO SAYS ONCE THAT HAPPENED
THE TOURISTS VANISHED AS QUICKLY AS THEY HAD COME.
// KOTROO ACT //
HEAPS OF THE HOME (INDIAN) TOURISTS CAME HERE. BUT
UNFORTUNATELY THE KARGIL (FIGHTING) STARTED. IT WAS A
SORT OF DREAM I'LL TELL YOU. PEOPLE CAME AND THEN THEY
WERE JUST ALL GONE. EVERYTHING IS GONE. BUT WHAT CAN
WE DO. THE ONLY THING I CAN SAY ABOUT THIS SITUATION
FROM THESE LAST NINE OR TEN YEARS IS THAT I FEEL WE ARE
FULL OF SINS AND THIS IS WHY GOD IS PUNISHING US. BUT
AT THE SAME TIME WITH HUMBLE SUBMISSION I PRAY TO OUR
ALMIGHTY GOD TO GIVE THE WISDOM OF UNDERSTANDING TO OUR
PEOPLE TO SETTLE THESE THINGS AMICABLY BETWEEN
THEMSELVES.
// END ACT //
ABDUL SAMID KOTROO SAYS TO SURVIVE MANY HOUSEBOAT OWNERS HAVE
SOLD THEIR PRECIOUS CARPETS AND ANTIQUE FURNITURE. HE SAYS
SKILLED CRAFTSMEN WHO ONCE FOUND STEADY WORK BUILDING AND
REPAIRING THE INTRICATELY CARVED BOATS NOW HAVE LITTLE TO DO, AND
NOW THEIR CRAFT, LIKE KASHMIR, IS SLOWLY DYING. (SIGNED)
NEB/JLT/LTD/KL
24-Jun-99 9:12 AM EDT (1312 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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