By chance, we met a member of Nadia’s extended family in Mumbai who had just returned from a week in Kashmir with his family. “It is beautiful this time of year. And the region is stable. You should visit Kashmir because you never know how long the peace will last,” he reported. We excitedly decided to fly to Srinagar and spend several days on and around Lake Dal after our stay in Delhi. Little did we know, unfortunate events were in motion that would surface deep-seated tensions and threaten the peace in Kashmir.
May 26: “The forestland in the Sindh range north of Srinagar was first diverted to the [Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board] on May 26 for raising a prefabricated infrastructure including lavatories at a base-camp for the Amarnath pilgrims.” (Source: Khaleej Times) The Amarnath caves are dedicated to the god Shiva and are one of the most important Hindu sites in India, especially during the holy month of Shravan in July-August.
June 21: Nadia and I set out for Delhi and Agra with news from Kashmir seemingly peaceful.
June 23: “Violent protests broke out in Srinagar once again over the controversial allotment of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board by the state government. Protesters took to the streets as leaders of both factions of the separatist Hurriyat Conference in Jammu and Kashmir were placed under house arrest. Hurriyat leaders were supposed to be part of the protests.” (Source: Times of India)
June 24: We arrived to Srinagar and headed for our houseboat on Lake Dal. We were tired after three days of packed itineraries in Delhi and Agra so we decided to rest and take a leisurly tour of Lake Dal, backdropped by the majestic Himalayan Mountains.
June 25: We were intrigued by a popular tourist destination near the Pakistan border called Gulmarg. Gulmarg boasts Asia’s highest and longest cable car project, the Gulmarg Gondola, as well as the highest golf course in the world.
The day started early with breakfast at 7am. Tariq from the Chicago Group (our houseboat company on Lake Dal) accompanied us to shore. We had heard from other guests that he had accompanied them to Gulmarg earlier in the week in a company-owned car. Once ashore, he walked us to a taxi, put us inside and thrust his hand through the window to shake mine and wish us good luck. He hurried off before we could ask why we were going alone. Nadia and I exchanged confused looks, but shrugged it off as we drove into Srinagar.
The taxi driver looked unusually tense. As we approached the city center he commented that all of the shops were closed due to a protest. “What are they protesting?,” I asked. “They are protesting the sale of Kashmiri land to non-Kashmiris. This is against our law.” He answered his cell phone and suddenly he stopped the taxi in the middle of street, turned around and started driving in the opposite direction on the wrong side of the street. “Protesters have closed the road and are throwing rocks at cars,” he explained. “They are fighting with the police and two people have been shot.”
Our driver called the Chicago Group, who suggested he take us in the opposite direction to Pahalgam, a popular tourist spot for trekking in the Himalayas. Pahalgram is primarily used as a base camp for Hindu pilgrims visiting the Amarnath caves. By now we were peppering our driver with questions trying to catch up on current events in the region, struggling to understand how we were caught by surprise in the middle of something so serious.
Our driver turned the corner onto the road to Pahalgam and slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the final car in a long line of cars trying to get out of Srinagar. The road seemed closed, but we weren’t sure who had closed it. As we sat there, we negotiated with our driver and the Chicago Group, who was worried about the money they had planned to charge us for the full day of tours, to take us to the removed Mogul Gardens on the south side of Lake Dal away from Srinagar and the roads leading out of town. We enjoyed a quiet afternoon in the hilltop gardens that were once the summer home of Mogul Emperors, overlooking Lake Dal and the surrounding valley. Our day concluded with the unavoidable stop at a carpet shop on the way home.
June 26: Having gained momentum and public attention, the protesters extended their reach to the lake. Houseboat owners rely almost exclusively on tourism for income and were less inclined to support the protesters. The protesters demanded a full strike on the lake and organized patrols of young shouting men to force participation. Parts of the lake were blockaded by strings of boats tied together.
As a result, we spent the day confined to our houseboat watching the eerily empty waters of the lake. Tourist areas were closed, including the gardens we had visited the day before. Tariq wasn’t able to buy meat that day, but defiantly rowed over to a nearby boat to procure fresh vegetables for dinner.
June 27: “With violence escalating on the fourth day of protests across the Valley against the transfer of forest land to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), hundreds of tourists fled Srinagar on Thursday, while others are waiting to follow suit.” (Source: Times of India)
A general curfew was announced starting June 27th. We had flights back to Delhi for the afternoon, but had to leave the houseboat around 6am after a sleepless night in order to clear military roadblocks. The Srinagar airport was chaotic and we were forced to become ‘Indian’ – we pushed our way through crowds and lines to make sure we got our seats! We passed through five security checks at: the airport grounds, airport terminal, entering the ticketed area, entering the boarding area and on the tarmac before boarding the plane. It sure felt good when the plane took off!
The Aftermath
The protesters succeeded in gaining a formal revocation of the land transfer on July 1st.
Unfortunately Kashmir remains unstable and unsafe for tourism. In response to the protests we witnessed in the largely Muslim valley over transferring land for use by Hindu pilgrims, protests have broken out in the majority Hindu area around the city of Jammu. Read more…
Tragically, Pakistani and Indian soldiers engaged in the first inter-nation gun battle in Kashmir since 2003 earlier this week. Read more…
