Latest news with #SannaIrshadMattoo
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Militants in Indian Kashmir segregate men from women and children before opening fire
Kashmiri traders hold a candlelight vigil to condemn the attack on tourists, following a suspected militant attack near south Kashmir's scenic Pahalgam, in Srinagar April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Sanna Irshad Mattoo SRINAGAR, India - Militants who killed 26 people in India's Kashmir region separated the men from the women and children and asked the men their names before shooting them at close range, security officials and survivors said on Wednesday. About 1,000 tourists and 300 local service providers were in the Baisaran Valley - known as mini Switzerland for its lush hilltop meadow, surrounded by dense pine forests - when three gunmen launched the Tuesday attack, the worst in India in nearly two decades. The heavily-armed attackers roamed around the grasslands and fired 60 rounds of ammunition, but did not shoot women and children, a security official, who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said. His account was based on conversations with survivors. Asavari Jagdale, from India's western state of Maharashtra, lost her father and uncle in the attack. She told local media that she and her family hid inside a nearby tent along with other tourists when the shooting started. When the militants reached their tent, Asavari said they asked her father, Santosh Jagdale, to come out and recite an Islamic verse. "When he failed to do so, they pumped three bullets into him, one on the head, one behind the ear and another in the back," she said. "My uncle was next to me. The terrorists fired four to five bullets into him." SAVED BY CHANTING ISLAMIC VERSES Debasish Bhattacharyya, a Hindu who teaches at Assam University and who grew up in a Muslim neighbourhood in the state, said he was familiar with Islamic verses. The militants ordered him and those nearby onto their knees and when the others started chanting the verses, he followed along. "I knew the words and, at that moment, it was probably the only way to save our lives. Those who failed, were killed," he told Reuters, adding that they fled when the gunmen left and trekked through a forest for two hours to survive. The attackers were dressed in traditional long shirts and loose trousers and one of them was wearing a bodycam, a security source said, adding that the militants opened fire at three spots across the Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist destination. Some tourists were shot at the eateries located in the meadow, while some were taken to the forests and shot there, the security source said. Visitors have to trek or hire ponies to reach Baisaran, situated about 4 km (about 2.5 miles) from the Pahalgam area of the Himalayan federal territory. It offers adventure sports facilities such as ziplining and zorbing and also serves as a campsite for trekkers trying to reach Tulian Lake, an alpine lake situated around 11 km from Baisaran. Prashant Satpathy, his wife and nine-year-old son had traveled from the eastern state of Odisha and were on the last day of their four-day trip. They had just completed a zipline ride when a bullet hit Satpathy on his head, his wife, Priyadarshini, told local media. "He collapsed before my eyes," she said. Adil Hussain Shah, a pony ride operator from Pahalgam, was also among the 26 dead in the attack. "We have heard that he did not die just like that, he was displaying bravery... this was a person who tried to stop the attack, and maybe also tried to grab the gun, that is why he was targeted," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah told reporters after visiting Shah's family on Wednesday. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
23-04-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Tourists flee India-administered Kashmir after deadly attack
PAHALGAM, India: Indian tourist brochures dub the Himalayan region of Kashmir "Little Switzerland", and its mountain meadows are usually packed with visitors escaping the sweltering summer heat in the lowland plains of India. On Wednesday (Apr 23), a day after gunmen killed 26 men in an attack on the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reported an "exodus of our guests". For New Delhi, the 3.5 million tourists who it says visited Kashmir in 2024 - mostly domestic visitors - illustrated what officials called "normalcy and peace" returning to the troubled region after a massive crackdown. Rebels in the Muslim-majority region have waged an insurgency since 1989, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan, but violence had dropped since New Delhi revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy in 2019. India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory. A day after the attack, the region's deadliest assault on civilians since 2000, tourists scrambled to leave, cramming into buses and taxis, while hoteliers reported a surge of cancellations. A tourist sits on the banks of Dal Lake with her belongings on Apr 23, 2025, as she waits for transport to leave for Srinagar airport, following a suspected militant attack near south Kashmir's scenic Pahalgam. (Photo: Reuters/Sanna Irshad Mattoo) At Pahalgam, the site of the attack, the usually tranquil meadows surrounded by pine forests and snowcapped mountains, reverberated with the thumping sounds of military helicopters taking part in a vast manhunt for the attackers. Around 24 hours after the attack, smears of blood were still visible at the site of attack, now patrolled by soldiers dressed in bulletproof jackets. Soldiers guarded the entrance, as forensic investigators collected evidence. An Indian military helicopter is seen in flight as viewed from Pahalgam, south of Srinagar, on Apr 23, 2025, following an attack. (Photo: AFP/Tauseef Mustafa) Until Tuesday afternoon, Hotel Mount View in Pahalgam was sold out for months, manager Abdul Salam told AFP. But since news of the killings broke, he has been inundated with people scrapping their travel plans. "This tragedy will paralyse business in Kashmir," he said. "We are trying hard to reassure our customers who may still want to come." Indian authorities have heavily promoted the mountainous region known for its lush valleys as a holiday destination, both for skiing during the winter months and to escape the sweltering heat elsewhere in India during the summer. A string of resorts is being developed, including some close to the heavily militarised de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. India regularly blames Pakistan for backing gunmen behind the insurgency. Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only supports Kashmir's struggle for self-determination. "It's heartbreaking to see the exodus of our guests from the valley after yesterday's tragic terror attack in Pahalgam, but at the same time, we totally understand why people would want to leave," Abdullah said in a statement. India's Director General of Civil Aviation Faiz Ahmed Kidwai issued a letter which called on airlines to "take swift action to increase the number of flights ... facilitating the evacuation of tourists". Air India said on Wednesday it had laid on extra flights "in view of the prevailing situation". Tourist Paras Sawla, from India's financial hub Mumbai, said many visitors were "fearful" after the attack. He was seeking to get the first flight home that he could. But the saddest part, he said, was that ordinary Kashmiri people, famous for their hospitality, were doing all they could to help. "We are not scared of the public here," Sawla said. "They are very supportive, helping out with whatever we need." India attack tourism
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Kashmir killings shatter Modi's tourism success in troubled region
A tourist sits on the banks of Dal Lake with her belongings as she waits for transport to leave for Srinagar airport, following a suspected militant attack near south Kashmir's scenic Pahalgam, April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Sanna Irshad Mattoo SRINAGAR - Images and videos of gunshots ringing out in a meadow, bloodied bodies lying on the ground, and people fleeing across a dry river bed have shattered Kashmir's emergence as India's new tourism hotspot. The region's strikingly beautiful mountains, valleys and grand Mughal-era gardens had drawn record tourist arrivals stemming from five years of relative safety. Supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had touted the tourism boom as among his signature achievements. But Tuesday's attack by suspected militants who killed at least 26 tourists and wounded many more in Kashmir's scenic Pahalgam area, known for its glowing Himalayan peaks and fast-flowing streams, has left panicked tourists seeking an early exit at the start of the busy summer season. Modi, whose decision to strip Muslim-majority Kashmir's partial autonomy in 2019 after decades of anti-India violence led to widespread protests, and his finance minister both cut short separate overseas trips after vowing justice. He took a meeting of his top lieutenants at the airport itself upon return. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, which both claim fully, and had been plagued by years of insurgent violence. Locals have called for a one-day protest against the deadliest such attack in Kashmir in decades, tourist operators are reporting massive cancellations, and airlines are running additional return flights from Kashmir's main city of Srinagar. Tourism is the backbone of the Kashmir valley's economy, and has been promoted heavily by the government and Indian airlines. Arrivals hit a record high of more than 3 million last year, from fewer than 831,000 in 2018, as India's widening middle class splurged on travel post-COVID, government data showed. But some Kashmir hardliners have derided the influx as a cultural invasion by visitors from the rest of mostly Hindu India. "We have a history of hospitality, but some cowardly terrorists want to destroy it all," Sajjad Lone, a local lawmaker and chief of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference party, told reporters. "People involved in tourism have, after a long time, begun to restart their lives. They had begun to dream. Make no mistake, these terror attacks are aimed at yet again disempowering us economically." A little-known militant group, the "Kashmir Resistance," claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media message. It said more than 85,000 "outsiders" had been settled in the region after arriving as tourists, vowing violence against such settlers. Civilian casualties, however, have fallen significantly in the past two decades, data shows. Tourist operators, taxi drivers, and other people involved in the industry condemned the attack and rued lost business at the start of the summer rush. The attack is also a big blow to Modi's attempts to draw foreign investments into the area. As desperate tourists tried to flee Kashmir, flight tickets briefly rose sharply before the government met with airline operators and "issued a strong advisory against surge pricing". "In the aftermath of the incident in Pahalgam, there is an unexpected demand from tourists seeking to return to their homes," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in an advisory to all airlines. "Airlines are advised to take swift action to increase the number of flights." A top travel agent in Kashmir said on the condition of anonymity that they had to cancel about 90% of bookings for the next three months. Shakir Ahmed, manager at a tourist taxi union in Pahalgam, said all their 30 vehicles were sitting idle as people fled in the morning. "The streets are suddenly empty," he said. "Summers are like wedding celebrations for us, but this year, we will have nothing. We are nothing without the tourists." Inaugurating a tunnel in January connecting a key snow hotspot in Kashmir with some other tourist sites, Modi said the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir was benefiting from infrastructure and other work in recent years. "Leaving behind the earlier difficult days, our Kashmir is now regaining its identity as a paradise on earth," he said. On Tuesday while on a visit to Saudi Arabia, he wrote on X: "Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice ... they will not be spared!" REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
