‘We want tourism to be restored’: J&K’s Omar Abdullah calls for reopening of tourist sites closed after Pahalgam attack
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘We want tourism to be restored’: J&K’s Omar Abdullah calls for reopening of tourist sites closed after Pahalgam attack")
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Photograph: (ANI)
The chief minister said that his government has sent teams abroad to promote tourism, noting that a big delegation is in Singapore in a bid to restore tourism from Southeast Asia.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday (Oct 18) called for the reopening of the tourist spots that were closed after the deadly April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26. Abdullah said that these places haven’t been shut in 35 years, even when militancy was at its peak in region. He added that some courage is needed to be shown and open tourist spots and promote them effectively.
“First, we have to reopen those places which have been shut. We did not shut these places in 35 years. When the militancy was at its peak, Drang or Doodhpathri were not closed, the upper areas of Gulmarg were not shut, Aru valley was not closed,” he told reporters.
“We are trying at our own level despite the fact that we are subjected to taunts that why are we doing so much tourism promotion?” he added, referring to the criticism that his government is focusing too much on tourism.
“We know that homes of lakhs of people depend on it and we want tourism to be restored to the level that was there before the Pahalgam attack,” Abdullah said.
The chief minister said that his government has sent teams abroad to promote tourism, noting that a big delegation is in Singapore in a bid to restore tourism from Southeast Asia. He added that the representatives will also travel to Berlin and London next month for promoting tourism.
“If we talk about within the country, Nasir (Aslam Wani) had recently gone to Udaipur for promotions. We are not leaving any stone unturned. I cannot say that the Centre has not supported us, but, the reality is that unfortunately, we are talking in two voices from within J-K,” he said.
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Abdullah further added, “On one hand, the elected government talks about tourism promotion, but on the other, the unelected government has kept a large part of Kashmir closed for tourism.” He said that if the Centre is afraid to reopen popular destinations like Doodhpathri, Drang and some parts of Gulmarg, “it means there is danger. That is the reason the tourists are not coming.”
