Autumn in Kashmir: Nature in Bloom, but Where Are the Tourists?

Shut schools & colleges, closed markets, no public transport: This is the reality of the Valley this autumn.

Autumn has arrived in Kashmir, but the unrest that shook the Valley has overshadowed everything that is good about the season. Representational Image. (Photo: iStock)

Kashmir's season of pleasure and plenty, the autumn, is here. But the unrest that shook the Valley this year has overshadowed everything that is good about the season.

For anyone coming to Kashmir in autumn, nature could not have been more rewarding. The countryside has turned green, crystal-clear water flows in rivers and streams, and fields sway with grain. On the chinar trees, leaves are changing from green through crimson to yellow. The apple orchards are laden with fruit waiting to be picked. But where are the hordes of tourists?

Nature could not have been more rewarding in Kashmir at the moment. Representational Image. (Photo: iStock)

Where are the groups of locals who would throng the Mughal Gardens to relax in the warmth of the autumn sun?

Separatists call for protests and the security forces place coils of concertina wire to thwart the agitation. This is the reality of the autumn in Kashmir this year.

For all of autumn, which is now approaching its end, nothing has moved here, quite literally.

Winter is already knocking at the valley’s door but tourists are not to be seen. Representational Image. (Photo: iStock)

No schools, colleges or universities for students, no main markets for shoppers, no public transport for commuters.

It is extremely difficult for non-locals to believe how any place in today’s world can remain closed for such a long time. But as locals, we have learnt to accept every tragedy and misery as part of our destiny.

Abdul Gani, Srinagar resident

The tourist towns of Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonamarg have become ghost hill stations. All hotels, tea stalls and handicraft shops at these places were closed by the middle of last month.

We were completely sold out for autumn. We had a Bollywood multi-star shoot booking for 20 days this autumn. Every single booking has been cancelled. We have brought down the shutters on our hotel in Sonamarg.

Suhail Mir, owner of Hotel Tranquil Resort in Sonamarg

The story of scores of other hotels, guest houses and houseboats in Srinagar city is no different from Mir's.

The tragedy for the Valley's tourist industry this year has been that it was caught unawares.

"We were at the peak of the tourist rush when the unrest started. We had made investments for autumn as we had huge bookings. All is finished now," said another hotelier in Srinagar.

Security forces keep strict vigil in Srinagar as curfew continues in Kashmir valley. (Photo: IANS)

After many years, the Kashmir Valley is missing its huge work force of non-locals who would be engaged for harvesting, threshing, winnowing and other agricultural activity in autumn.

Kashmiri doctors and medical workers wear bandages on their eyes as a mark of protest against the use of pellet guns and recent killings in Srinagar. (Photo: AP)

With the beginning of the ongoing cycle of violence in early July, all non-local labourers, both skilled and unskilled, have left the Valley. Even the brick-layers engaged by various kiln owners left three months before schedule this year.

"When 90 people are killed, 12,000 injured and dozens blinded by pellets, how can anyone expect to risk his/her life by working in Kashmir?" asked Ali Muhammad Dar, 69, a brick-kiln owner in central Budgam district.

For public transport operators, the sword has been double-edged. "We have been grounded since 9 July, the day trouble started here. Banks are continuously charging interest on our loans," said a transport operator here who did not want to be named.

"Any public transport operator who dares to challenge the protest shutdown has to pay a high price. Protesters smash vehicles and in two cases, they even torched some autorickshaws," he added.

Security personnel in Kashmir can be seen everywhere after the unrest that followed Wani’s death. (File photo: PTI)

Many well-to-do families have sent their children to join coaching centres in the winter capital Jammu as there is no hope of the Valley’s educational institutions opening soon.

The clear morning air of autumn, its benign sun, orchards laden with fruit, mountain streams full of trouts, mountains seeking trekkers and mountaineers are all there. But unfortunately, the Kashmir Valley has missed its tryst with autumn this year.

(Published in an arrangement with IANS)