SRINAGAR: For a third straight day, India-administered Kashmir has been under a strict lockdown imposed by the Indian security forces in wake of the abrogation of the special status of the Muslim-majority state.
The Himalayan region’s booming tourism industry has come to a grinding halt, with business owners facing major losses.
“Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government gave tourists 24 hours to leave the Kashmir valley,” Abdul Gaffar, a houseboat owner in Srinagar, said.
“He did it at a very wrong time when the tourist season was at its peak. We are running at unimaginable loses after the tourists left.”
India’s government on Monday said it was scrapping Article 370 of India’s constitution that guaranteed special rights to Jammu and Kashmir, including the state’s right to its own constitution and decision-making process for all matters except defense, communications and foreign affairs. It also split the region into two federal territories.
The moves came after the Indian government deployed some 10,000 additional troops to the disputed region, followed by an unprecedented order asking tourists and Hindu pilgrims to leave the valley. It also imposed a curfew on parts of the territory, shut down telecommunications and arrested political leaders.
Gaffar said Modi’s priority was to get Hindus out of Kashmir. “He did not think of Muslims. Had he thought of us, he would have never ordered the tourists out of the Kashmir valley.”
Kamran, the owner of the Winterfell restaurant at Srinagar’s Boulevard area, said his business had also been hit hard after the sudden exit of tourists.
“For the first time in the last three years, we had a huge rush of foreign tourists. We have had tourists from almost every part of the world,” Kamran said.
“Now, it is all empty. I am running at a loss of over $3,000 per day,” Kamran said.
(Agencies)
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