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Journalism of Courage
CALCUTTA, AUG 6: As a fall-out of escalation of violence in Kashmir: the Valley, a dream destination of any Bengali tourist, has gone off the itinerary of the common Bengali backpacker this puja.
While the spurt in terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir last week that claimed about 100 innocent lives once again proved the fragility of the peace there, it served a major blow to the already dwindling inflow of tourists from West Bengal who visit the state in large numbers most of the time of the year, particularly during the Durga Puja. A survey among Calcutta’s major travel agents by The Indian Express reveals that during this year’s Durga Puja, which is just a month and half away, tourists from West Bengal will be very few and far between in the valley.
Incidentally, tourists from West Bengal form the bulk of domestic tourists visiting the valley every year. As Sheikh Nisar Ahmed, Director Tourism, Kashmir, who came to Calcutta to represent his state at the 18th Travel and Tourism Fair, told The Indian Express: “West Bengal is the No. 1 customer and we want people from there to come to our state in larger numbers to tell the whole world that our state is as good or as bad as any other state of the country.”
But not many Bengalis are convinced. Prabhat Mukherjee, senior partner of Ramakrishna Travels, a reputed travel agency in Calcutta which conducts packaged tours at various tourists spots in India and abroad says, “Even last year during the pujas I took 106 people to the Valley. “This year too 35 people had booked our Kashmir package. But as soon as there was the escalation in violence, all the bookings were cancelled. We have refunded all of them,” the tour operator, who has been in this profession for 35 years, said.
His sentiments were echoed by Samir Kumar Saha of Saha Travel and Tours, who owned a hotel near Dal Lake and spent 21 years in the Valley but now has settled in Calcutta. “Last year during the Puja, our company arranged tours for 98 people to the valley but this year we are not taking anybody,” Saha told this reporter. “In fact a Kashmir trip has no takers among Bengalis this year,” he added.
Another tour operator in Calcutta, Umesh Khandelwal of Link India Tours and Travels has the same story for you. While last year he took 26 people, there were bookings from three families comprising 12 people this puja. “All of them have cancelled their bookings after the spurt in killings last week,” Khandelwal told this reporter.
Reasons for this disinterest are obvious. “During the pujas we go to a nice tourist spot and freak out,” Arindam Mukherjee, a bank officer from Baghbazaar area in north Calcutta told this reporter. “But if you have to move under the shadow of guns and terror, you can not enjoy your holiday. I went to Kashmir twice earlier and I want to go there again and again. But I cannot go there with guns blazing all around,” he added.
Gautam Banik, Hony. Secretary, Travel Agents Association of Bengal which has 80 members rued, “Even last year, there were 10-12 operators taking conducted tours to the valley. This year till May the number came down to four or five. But now I think it has come down to zero as no Calcutta-based operator in my knowledge is taking tourists to the Valley.”
Ahmed, an official of the Jammu and Kashmir government rues, “We are part of India and we are all brothers. If we are in trouble it’s the duty of other brothers to come forward and help us out. I entreat Bengalis to come to Kashmir and return more enlightened about the state.”
There seem to be not many takers for this.
