Tourism players condemn terror incidents in Kashmir

Srinagar, Nov 5: Tourism players in Kashmir on Tuesday condemned the terror incidents in the valley, calling them unacceptable, and said the industry is committed to supporting the government in restoring peace.

Addressing a joint press conference of several business leaders associated with the sector here, tourism players said they want peace in the Kashmir valley.

"It is not acceptable to Kashmiris. We request those who are behind these, do not do this. It will not be acceptable that people get killed and the economy gets destroyed here," Jammu Kashmir Hoteliers Club chairman Mushtaq Chaya said.

He said lakhs of people are dependent on tourism for their sustenance and such incidents aim to derail peace and impact tourism.

"It is unacceptable to Kashmiris. We want peace only. We condemn these incidents," Chaya added.

On Sunday, a grenade attack near the Tourist Reception Center (TRC) left 11 persons injured. Before that, non-locals were targeted in a spate of attacks since the formation of the elected government in J&K.

Addressing the presser, another tourism player, Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo, said the government needs to look for the root cause of such incidents, and then find its solution.

"We have to address issues like unemployment and drug abuse," he added.

Rauf Tramboo, president of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK), said the society as a whole and the industry in particular strongly condemns such incidents, and assured full support to the government to curb them.

"We are at the beck and call of the government. We assure our full support to the government to curb such incidents. We request the security agencies to get proactive to curb such elements," Tramboo said.

Asked about National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah's recent remarks that there were apprehensions that such attacks were taking place to destabilise Omar Abdullah-led government, Chaya said there should be investigations.

"He (Farooq Abdullah) is our tallest leader. He is right. These (attacks) did not take place for 2-3 years but are happening now when the new government has taken over. There should be investigations," he said.

Acknowledging that there has been some impact of the attacks on tourist arrivals, Chaya said they want to send out a message to tourists that Kashmir is a safe place and that they can travel to any place anytime.