National Conference president Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said the April 22 incident dealt a heavy blow to Kashmir\u2019s tourism industry, but stressed that restoring public confidence and reviving tourism remain vital for the valley\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
Speaking to news agency, Dr. Farooq said, \u201cSince the April 22 episode, tourism has suffered a severe setback. Tourism is essential for Kashmir\u2019s economy. The poor and the well-off alike depend on it.<\/p>\n
Winters shut us down for six \u201cmonths; all the income is earned in the summer months and spent during winter. That\u2019s why, after April 22, we have tried hard to remove fear among the people of the valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident on (22 april) happened it was not our doing but all of Kashmir stood against it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noting efforts to bring visitors back, he welcomed initiatives aimed at projecting normalcy. \u201cIt is good that our friends are promoting events they even organised the gold tournament so a message goes out at all times that conditions here are improving. Come and enjoy our hospitality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On the long-standing demand for restoration of statehood, Dr. Farooq expressed cautious optimism. \u201cGod willing, we hope this will happen. Delhi will pay attention to it. The Prime Minister will see the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to have their statehood restored,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
When asked about periodic disruptions that follow phases of calm citing controversies around waqf and the Doda incident Dr. Farooq observed that such incidents have been part of the region\u2019s troubles for decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese things will continue to occur; we have suffered since 1947. This is not a new phenomenon, but we must come out of it. Nothing is static. I hope conditions improve here. Our leaders must understand that to make things better we must also pay heed to the aspirations of our people,\u201d he said. (KNC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
National Conference president Dr. Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said the April 22 incident dealt a heavy blow to Kashmir\u2019s tourism industry, but stressed that restoring public confidence and reviving tourism remain vital for the valley\u2019s economy. Speaking to news agency, Dr. Farooq said, \u201cSince the April 22 episode, tourism has suffered a severe setback. Tourism […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,88],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jammu","8":"category-kashmir"},"yoast_head":"\n