A month after the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, locals in the region are struggling to make ends meet due to the loss of their livelihoods. With the manhunt on for the terrorists behind the attack, the number of tourists in South Kashmir has plummeted.
On April 22, 2024, four to six terrorists opened fire at a group of tourists in Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow, killing 26 people, including one Nepali citizen. In response to the attack, India downgraded its ties with Pakistan through the cancellation of visas, suspending the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, expelling diplomatic and military staff and sealing its borders. India also attacked nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Locals mark the loss of livelihoods
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, many tourists fled Srinagar. A month later, locals in Pahalgam and nearby areas have stated that the famed meadows now stand deserted.
“The place looks desolate. We used to have thousands of tourists on any given day in Pahalgam, providing livelihood opportunities for everyone — shopkeepers, roadside vendors, ponywallahs, cab drivers and hoteliers,” tour operator Nasir Ahmad told news agency PTI.
Ahmad added that even during the 1990 insurgency, Pahalgam was never as deserted as it is today.
Shopkeeper Mohammad Irshad added that people have not earned a penny in a month. “The government will have to do something, and it cannot go on like this for too long,” he told PTI.
Pahalgam terrorists yet to be nabbed
A month after the terror attack and a series of operations in Kashmir to combat terrorism, the terrorists behind the Pahalgam attack are yet to be nabbed by India.
A day after the attack, the National Investigation Agency released sketches of three terrorists allegedly involved in the attack. Furthermore, the attack also resulted in a series of demolitions of houses affiliated to suspected terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir as well as terrorist affiliated to terror organisations such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahadeen.
(With inputs from PTI)