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Upsurge in violence snuffs tourism { September 6 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Upsurge in violence snuffs out rebirth of tourism in Kashmir
By Edward Luce in New Delhi
Published: September 6 2003 5:00 | Last Updated: September 6 2003 5:00
This summer's much-heralded resuscitation of Kashmir's tourist industry is in serious jeopardy following a sharp rise in militant activity in the Himalayan state over the past two weeks.
The upsurge in violence - with more than 30 Indian soldiers and separatist militants killed in encounters this week - follows the terrorist attack in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, last month in which more than 52 civilians were killed.
The outrage at the country's worst terrorist attack in more than a year, which the Indian government blamed on a Pakistan-based Islamist group, triggered a corresponding rise of separatist operations in the divided state of Kashmir.
There has also been an increase in shelling between Indian and Pakistani forces across the Line of Control that divides the province.
The impact on tourism, which was experiencing its first tentative revival since the separatist insurgency began in 1989, is already apparent in the emptying houseboats on Srinagar's picturesque Lake Dal.
"All of the tourist spots have gone quiet in the last few days," said Tahir Mohiuddin, editor of Chataan, an Urdu-language paper in Srinagar, capital of the province. "It looks like we are returning to business as usual."
Last weekend India said it killed Gazi Baba, the chief strategist of Jaish-e-Mohammed, one of the most hardline separatist groups, which is based in Pakistan and is believed to have played a role in the Mumbai attacks.
India says Mr Baba, who was on its "most wanted" list, masterminded a suicide attack on India's parliament in December 2001 and the hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu two years earlier. He was apparently killed by Indian forces in an encounter in Srinagar.
"Mr Baba's death has provoked a number of revenge attacks on Indian targets by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists," said an Indian official. "It seems plain that Pakistan has done little to rein in these groups."
Analysts attribute the upsurge in violence to the failure of India and Pakistan to make progress in their four-month-old peace process, initiated by Atal Behari Vajpayee, India's prime minister, in a speech in April in Srinagar.
Some link it more directly to India's rejection last month of a Pakistani offer to help bring about a ceasefire by militant groups in Kashmir in exchange for the release of separatist prisoners.
India, which says high-level talks will take place only once Pakistan starts visibly dismantling the "infrastructure of terrorism", dismissed the offer as a gimmick.
"It looks like Pakistan, or groups based in Pakistan, are stepping up activity in Kashmir as a reminder that things have not returned to normal," said one analyst.
The reputation of Mufti Sayeed, Kashmir's chief minister, who was last year elected on the promise of bringing a "healing touch" to the embittered province, appears to be another casualty of the increased violence.
Mr Sayeed has so far been unable to persuade New Delhi to hold talks with the Hurriyat group of separatist parties in Kashmir, in spite of the group's new found willingness to talk to India without the participation of Pakistan.
"This is all sadly familiar," said Mr Mohiuddin. "Lots of violence and no talking."
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