Border Tourism: Culture, simplicity of Kashmir’s remote villages charm tourists

Baramulla, Jul 18: Border tourism, which has gained attention after guns fell silent along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021 after the reiteration of the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan, is growing popular with tourists with each passing day.
To increase tourist footfall, the Indian Army and J&K tourism department are organising events to put these areas on Kashmir’s tourism map. An official said that a huge number of visitors to Kashmir have been showing interest in visiting such unexplored places since last year.
The official data shows that at least 90,000 tourists have visited the borders tourist destinations so far this year. The border areas like Keeran, Machil, Bangus, Tangdhar, Gurez, and Uri along the LoC in north Kashmir, which once were infiltration corridors for militants, are the new tourist destinations.
People living in the border villages expressed happiness at the change in destiny of these neglected areas and said that they are expecting more tourists.
Locals said that the culture, simplicity and other traditional things make the tourists happy, because they don’t get to see such things in other places. “Many people are now engaged in the tourism sector in border areas since the start of this year,” said Gurez valley’s Nazir Ahmad.
He said that continuous efforts by the army, people and the government will lead to further development in these areas. However, he added, there should be a separate development authority for Gurez by which the infrastructure of the area will be further improved.
Karnah’s Mohammad Ismail of Karnah said that for the past one year there has been such a rush of tourists as never seen before. “Considering the border tension, people did not come here till recently, but now everything is going well here,” he said.
Abdul Gaffar, a resident of Uri, said that the government has to work harder on border areas and make them tourism hubs. “Our homes are always open to tourists and we welcome them,” he said, adding that people will similarly welcome initiatives that benefit the poor here.