J&K violence: Tourists now flocking to Leh-Ladakh

Tourists from all across the world are being seen holidaying in scenic beauty of Leh-Ladakh these days. The number has substantially gone up owing to the violence and instability in the Valley that followed the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Huge numbers of well-to-do visitors are reported to have been holidaying in the region. Tourist spots like Pongong Lake and Khardung Pass are witnessing full occupancy after the normal life has got disrupted in the Kashmir valley.

Many Kashmiris were also reported to have set up camps at Choglamsar area of Leh town waiting for the storm to pass in the valley and had since left as semblance of normalcy returned in Kashmir. “We do not have an exact figure of Kashmiri tourists visiting Leh during the protest in Kashmir. However, there was a definite unusual spurt in the numbers of incoming tourists from Kashmir,” said an official of Tourist Department in Leh.

The influx of Kashmir tourists also raised some alarms as rumours about Kashmiris inquiring about land sellers in and around Leh started doing rounds after a social media post by a local politician of Bharatiya Janta Party. “This year a large number of people (Kashmiri) are visiting Ladakh. May be they are trying to escape the unending strike calls that is being given in Kashmir. There is no basis for alarmed being raised by some quarters. They are trying to put Ladakh on fire after doing the same to Kashmir. They are to fan communal polarisation in Ladakh by resorting to scaremongering. 

There is no need to raise an alarm. Yet we will be cautious. I think Ladakhis are fully capable of looking after themselves - as they have done in the past,” said Rigzin Jora, Congress J&K Legislative Party leader. Ladakh Budhist Association also refuted the authenticity of the rumours.