‘Pahalgam bustling with activity': Omar Abdullah shares buzzing scenes from Kashmir's terror-hit hill station

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Sunday that Pahalgam hill station in South Kashmir was 'bustling with activity' with tourists from various parts of the country competing for space with local picnickers.

Abdullah shared pictures of crowded roads of the famed hill station in rainy weather on June 22, Sunday, exactly two months after the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam's Baisaran valley that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.

“The last time I was in Pahalgam I cycled through a market that was all but deserted. Today I came back to a Pahalgam that was bustling with activity. Tourists from various parts of the country competed for space with local picnickers who were enjoying the cool climate & rainy weather,” Abdullah said in a post on X

Tourism was badly affected in Pahalgam and beyond after the deadly April 22 terror attack. But tourism numbers have increased in the last two weeks. Some locals that LiveMint spoke to said more tourists started coming to the Kashmir Valley after the inauguration of Kashmir's first Vande Bharat train earlier this month.

The Kashmir Vande Bharat Train

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6 inaugurated the first Vande Bharat Express train to Kashmir from Jammu after the completion of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project.

Modi flagged off the train services from the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi(SMVD) railway station in Jammu's Katra to Srinagar, Kashmir. On the occasion, Modi also flagged off another train from Srinagar to Katra.

“It’s very satisfying to see the efforts my colleagues & I have been putting in slowly bearing fruit,” Omar said.

CM-led campaign for tourism revival

Last month,Abdullah took it upon himself to lead a campaign for the revival of tourism in the Valley. On May 28, Abdullah chaired a meeting of administrative secretaries and other top officials in Gulmarg health resort as part of his government’s efforts to draw tourists back to Kashmir. A day before, he held a symboliccabinet meeting in Pahalgam, the site of the April 22 terror attack.

The chief minister's visits infused a new hope among stakeholders and increased the chances of a turnaround after the tourist season this year was washed out due to the terror attack.

Abdullah was seen riding a bicycle in Pahalgam and taking a Gondola (cable car) ride in Gulmarg, apart from the meetings that he chaired.

“Dil Na Umeed to Nahi”

In Gulmarg, speaking with the media on Wednesday, Abdullah quoted a couplet of Pakistani Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz: “Dil na umeed to nahi, nakaam hi to hai, Lambi hai gham ki shaam, magar shaam hi to hai. " He tried to explain why optimism is pivotal in adversity.

The couplet loosely translates to: “The heart is not hopeless, just defeated for now. The evening of sorrow is long, but after all, it is only an evening.” Urdu poetry lovers cite this and other couplet as an example of Faiz’s ability to blend sorrow with resilience.

Since 14 June, parks and other tourist places in Kashmir that had been closed after the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack have also been reopened in a phased manner. The Jammu and Kashmir government shut 48 out of 87 tourist destinations across Kashmir Valley in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. The reopening of these parks also helped revive tourism, locals said.

Two weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack, India on 7 May conducted precision strikes on at least nine terror camps in Pakistan in what is now known as ‘Operation Sindoor’. India and Pakistan indulged in four days of military action post Operation Sindoor. The two nations agreed on an understanding to halt military action on 10 May.