Beauty and cruelty of life in the shadow of kashmiri murder

The Red Persian Couple, which is often repeated in the Indian -released cashmere, translates to: “If there is paradise on earth, he is here, he is here.” And many cashmers insist that it was written in view of the moon.

A small town, located between the high Himalayan mountains, with the Lidder river, which runs through it, is called India’s mini.

The valleys and meadows have long provided stunning places for Bollywood romances and attracted tens of thousands of tourists who avoid the heat and dust of Indian aircraft.

But on April 22, a calm valley hit global headlines when the meadow, which turned into murder, was divorced here.

The militants highlighted men’s Hindu tourists and killed 25 of them in front of their families in Baisar, a place of beauty about 7 km from the city. A local Muslim pony who tried to help tourists was also shot.

The massacre led nuclear armed India and Pakistan to the border of the war. India has been accused of murder in Pakistan – Islamabad’s charges were denied – and both countries attacked each other rockets and drones for four days in May after which a fragile truce was agreed.

But in the mud, the time seems to slow down, and residents try to pick up the pieces and move on.

When I recently visited the moon, where a majority earns a living tourism, I found the land and its people trying to fight a collective trauma, mourning the loss of life – and livelihood. The peak of the tourist season here – April to June – and this year most of it has already been lost.

“What happened here is condemned … inhuman act. Innocent people were killed,” says Jed Burza, president of the Pahalgam Hotel Association and restaurants.

Standing on the back lawns of his hotel, he watches how the skin sounded. On the other hand, there are huge mountains covered with a thick rug of trees. This is the kind of this valley in South Kashmir in such a sought -after point of destination.

Mr. Burza says that visitors came from all over India for its lakes, forests, meadows and glaciers – and returned from the locals and their hospitality.

“People here are bad, they live manually in the lips, but as they know, they are very good and useful. Now we are all faced with the consequences of this meaningless violence,” he adds. “We had customers by the end of June. But then everything collapsed like a pack of cards. Now there is little left.”

The chief minister of the region Omar Abdullah says that after the attack the tourists escaped from the city, and the people who offered to come.

To convince the tourists to give the murmurs another chance, he visited the city within a few weeks after the attack, held a meeting there in the office and, ignoring the advice of officials that took place through the streets.

For Mr. Abdullah, the well -being of the murmur is personal.

“It was there that our school picnics were there; that’s where we probably dumped our toes in running water at first. For some of us, this is the first time we moved to white water or fisheries on trout. For others, this is a day or night visit. This is part of our growing up.”

Mr. Abdullah says he is always difficult to make forecasts, but he hopes to see a mud “, where it was on April 21 this year.”

On this day he was filled with tourists, says Fiaz Ahmad, who sells embroidered scales and dresses of cashmere in the main drill market, with shops lining both sides of the single road that runs through the city.

Many remain closed, but somewhat began to open in the hope of attracting customers. On the day I met him, he was the first that he opened his store after the killings.

The last three seasons and after the cabbage were marked by visiting the bumper, says Mr Ahmad.

“Each morning, at least 3,000 cars arrive until 11am. There would be congestion that lasts two to three hours. Many tourists would say they couldn’t find housing.”

His own store is sometimes so crowded that the turn of buyers is formed on the street. “The business was fast,” he said. But now he had to release three sellers. They would only be converted if the business took away, he said.

The targeting of tourists left him embarrassed. Since 1989, when the anti-Indian militancy has covered the Kashmir Valley, Mr Ahmad says: “The situation was really bad here.”

“We were afraid to leave our homes, but tourists who decided to come here have never been damaged. We can’t understand why they were aimed at doing so. Who could do so?” he asks.

India has accused Pakistan militants in a massacre in the region, which both countries claim in full but control only in part.

Delhi accuses her neighbor of nourishing perennial rebels who have killed tens of thousands in Kashmir, headed by India. Islamabad has long been denied to reinforce the militants there.

In recent years, the rebels have decreased, bringing millions of tourists and an increasing sense that the region has finally become safer. But this has changed now.

“Pahalgam Ke naam Par Dhabba Lag Gaya (the name of the murmur is stained),”-gives birth to Nissal Ali, an 80-year-old resident who earns a living by selling Papier Mache.

“People have taken loans to open shops and buy taxis, now everyone looks at the uncertain future. What happened to our paradise,” he asks.

A total of 2 km from the market, the signage indicates the road that goes to Baisan, 5 km hike, covered with foot or pony. The contended road used for the barricade of the road was moved to one side, and the locals, and the flocks of sheep can be seen, wandering down.

Before the killings, this was one of the most popular places for tourists. The meadow, which offered the excellent view of the valley, was opened from 08:00 to 17:00 and in the summer will receive thousands of visitors.

But it remains on the borders. Two men were arrested allegedly for asylum militants, but those who had murdered have not yet been caught – which led to fears that they could return.

Abdul Vahid Vani, president of the Union of Murgi Pony, who first arrived at the scene, says that 1090 tourists rose to the meadow until 14:00.

There were about 300 tourists at the time of the attack in Baisar.

At 14:36, he said, he called the police with a question whether he had heard something about the incident in Baisar.

“I tried to call my colleagues who raised tourists on the meadow, but no one replied. I realized that something was wrong, and my brother and I ran up and reached at 15:10.”

Police and paramilters arrived in 15 minutes. That night, Mr. Vani ended at 02:30. He says what he saw there at night.

“I saw women and children crying and shouting. I saw bodies on the ground. I saw 10-15 people suffered.”

In the first videos about the consequences that became viral on the day of the attack, Mr. Vani can be heard by trying to assure those who survived, offering them water, saying he was there to help.

He caused other pony handlers who arrived at the place to help evacuate – “transferring them to the back and wooden cribs” – and collected bodies, scattered about the huge field.

“I still can’t forget what I saw on this day. I was panic; I had a heartbeat. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

When I met him in the mood, he looked tired and his eyes drowned deep into his face.

“For many nights I couldn’t sleep and still shying me away. With the militants, I still worry what would happen when they follow us because we helped the people they tried to kill?”

But earlier this week we exchanged messages, and it sounded more optimistic.

The city returned to life, and thousands of pilgrims came to take part in the amatery of the Yatra – the annual Hindu pilgrimage to the shrine of the cave. It began on July 3 and will continue until August 9.

Dozens of camps were created, and thousands of police and power structures were located on the route to ensure security.

Murgi – one of two starting points for the hike to the shrine – and since many pilgrims hire pony to take part of the way, there is a constant stream of work for Mr. Vani and his colleagues.

But the hotels and store owners say they will have to wait for the end of the pilgrimage, as most pilgrims will remain in cheaper camps and rarely buy crafts.

But many take the heart from the fact that tourists began to return to the region. In June, Ravi Gosei, president of all tour operators of India, in June 40% of more than 45,000 tourists who visited the Kashmir Valley went to the mud.

On the day I visited, there were families who stopped in the photos under the sign “Love of a funeral”.

Shabiba and Hamid Jaffar, who visited at the same time last year, stated that it was so crowded that they had to wait half an hour to take pictures here.

“When we decided to come this year, our friends tried to repel us, saying it was not safe,” Shabiba says. “But it’s completely safe and my kids are so happy that they say let’s move to Kashmir.”

Mr Yhfher says their friends call them after they saw their photos. “And I tell them come here on vacation. Where will you see this beauty? Where do you get this calm?”