Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Tourism volumes actually have returned to and even exceeded levels that happened in the 1960s and 1970s, but the demographic background of tourists there has changed (call it democratization
) and it's still not nearly as safe as it was for the better part of the 1960s-1980s.
Yes. That process of
democratisation is an undeniability. It has got to do with overall economic growth. The types of people who could not go these places can now afford to and many of those people have no regard for local people, customs and the environment. It's the same mentality that makes some people, to spit or throw trash out the window in a bus or a train. I have very fond memories of my visit to Kashmir. The Banihal pass and tunnel, the nominal source of Jhelum ( I think it's Verinag), Srinagar, the Dal and Nagian laked, various Mughal gardens (NIshat, Shalimar and Chasma Shahi), the house boat in Dal Lake, Gulamrg and Sonamarg, Pehalgam, Chandanwari etc. Most of the places were pristine then. I have seen what has happened to places like Mussoorie. Even in the early 80's, Mussourie was peaceful. Now its a gehtto, so is the once beautiful Kampty falls.
This is progress Indian style.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
The train and/or the tracks are a definite target in a way "Kashmiri" infrastructure would not have been in the 1960s-1988.
If the purpose of the train were to flood Kashmir with non-Kashmiris to settle in Kashmir, I can see why a Kashmiri would to resent it. That is not the intent. Is it? Targeting the insfrastructure is to destablise the valley by attacking the eastblaishment, which is Delhi backed
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
The armed government personnel presence on the streets still far exceeds anything that J&K had seen prior to 1989.
I wonder how the local people feel. Are people for Jammu and Laddakh considered non-Kashmiri or "Indian" by the people of Kashmir?