The directive of the Union Home Ministry to the CRPF stationed in the hotels on Boulevard Road, banking the Dal Lake, an inevitable tourist attraction, is indicative of multiple realities. On the face of it the directive to evacuate the rooms, 6000 in number as the GK report underlines, implies that the tourist flow is necessitating certain changes on the ground. Since the infra structure for tourism hasn’t grown over the years, the sudden rise in the tourist flow is making things unmanageable for the tourist department and the private stake holders in the valley.   The problems of accommodation are telling as the means of travel and communication have ensured multifold increase in the inflow of tourists and the number of hotels is almost the same as was prior to 1989. The MHA directive is responding to this problem. This much is simple and understandable. If we have almost fifty hotels across Srinagar occupied by CRPF, it simply means that tourism infrastructure is less by this much accommodation. And when the government wants to revive the tourism sector sending out signals of Kashmir being calm, such a directive is long overdue. However, it indicates that even after government’s own assertion of militancy being at its lowest, how much of space is under the usage of security forces! And here is a question; if tourists wouldn’t have come is such great numbers would it be absolutely fine to continue accommodating security forces in these hotels! What is it that informs the government decisions, is very important. The fact of the matter is that the security footprint must be minimized, not just in Srinagar, but in the towns and villages across Kashmir. This must not be prompted because tourists have to be accommodated, but because people need to be relieved of the military presence.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 19 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST