‘No need to panic and flee’

Pune based tourist currently staying in a hotel in Srinagar says life is normal in rest of Kashmir

Mumbai: With reports of tourists panicking and fleeing Kashmir with the most viable flight available are pouring in, tourists who are in Kashmir right now paint a different picture of the current situation in the valley. Speaking to The Perfect Voice, Kalpana Chavan who travelled to Kashmir last week as a part of the itinerary of a travel company called Vihar travels is currently residing in a hotel in Srinagar. Chavan said that life is absolutely normal in Kashmir.

A narrow escape

Interestingly, Chavan had left Pahalgam along with the group for Gulmarg at 2 pm on April 22, Tuesday, exactly half an hour before the attack took place. She heaved a sigh of relief while being sympathetic towards those who went through the nightmare that the Baisaran valley was a part of their itinerary same time on April 21, just a day before the attack took place. Chavan said, “Only one of our group members went to Baisaran valley on the afternoon of Monday, a day prior to the attack. Others were children and mostly senior citizens. They were not keen to venture the trek or horse ride, so we all stayed back at the hotel. Next day we left Pahalgam, and within an hour we got the news of the attack.”

Chavan who is on the tour at the moment has 32 tourists in the group including her says that schools, markets, sightseeing, everything is functioning smoothly as usual. Chavan says, “No need to panic and start fleeing because a terror attack can happen in any part of the country. Security is tight, there is patrolling every 100 metres. We went to Gulmarg, did our sight seeing as per plan. We went to the market for shopping. We played cricket. I don’t see a reason to head back. Although the crowd has decreased, but it’s not deserted.”

Locals fear economic setback

Chavan says ladies are freely visiting independently and shopping at the malls and there is absolutely no need to worry. However, local residents for first time seem angry about the attack, specifically because their income is completely based on tourism and the attack on tourists is a major set back for them. “We have visited shops at almost all the locations planned in the itinerary. All the salesmen, shop owners have been expressing their anguish about the attack. They said that terrorist attacks pose a direct threat to their source of income and jeopardise their livelihood”, said Chavan.

Chavan and her group will be returning back to Pune day on Saturday after covering all the sight-seeing spots as per schedule.