The Hindu : National : Pahalgam blast fails to deter tourists

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 14, 2004

National

National

Pahalgam blast fails to deter tourists

By Shujaat Bukhari

Security personnel on vigil at the Dal Lake, in Srinagar on Sunday. — PTI

PAHALGAM, JUNE 13. A day after a blast in a hotel here which claimed five lives, it was business as usual here today with thousands of tourists thronging this famous tourist spot. Though traders here had planned to shut down their business for a day in protest against the blast, the heavy rush of tourists forced them to reverse their decision.

The blast toll has risen to five as 10-year-old Ritik died of injuries in a Srinagar hospital today.

The hotel was a major attraction for the people, including a battery of media-persons who visited Pahalgam today. It was jam-packed with tourists taking meals."It is a part of life and such incidents do happen. People are thrown out of running trains that does not mean that nobody will board them," said Ashok Parekh, a tourist from Bandra, Mumbai. Mr. Parekh was eyewitness to the blast and said "there was some panic at that time but later on it was normal".

The hotels in the town were full and no cancellations were reported. An official from a travels company said "the bookings are intact and, in fact, we have problem of inadequate accommodation".

A senior officer from the Tourism department told The Hindu that around 8,000 people visited Pahalgam today. Tourist rush from outside also was as usual.

"These incidents will not deter us from visiting such beautiful places" said one Muzamil Ahmed, a student.

The Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, accompanied by the People's Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mehbooba Mufti, and the Minister of State for Home, A.R. Veeri, too visited the town and interacted with the tourists assuring them security. He asked them to treat the incident as an isolated one.The Mufti said it was a conspiracy to target the interests of the Kashmiris. He also chaired a high-level meeting and reviewed the security arrangements being made for the tourists. The Inspector-General of Police, K. Rajindra, also attended the meeting.

Earlier, the Mufti visited the Dal Lake area in Srinagar and talked to tourists. Mr. Sayeed had tea with a group of tourists in a house boat. He told them that such violent incidents were a global phenomenon and were not going to deter his Government from pursuing peace.

Condemning the attack, the former Chief Minister and the patron of the National Conference, Farooq Abdullah, demanded a ``credible'' inquiry into the incident. Various organisations associated with tourism also expressed anguish over the incident.

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