Sunday, August 18, 2024 Jammu and Kashmir’s expanding militant presence in the upper regions has dampened the prospects for border tourism, which had been gaining momentum over the past two years following a renewed ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan. The procedure for obtaining passes to visit areas near the Line of Control (LoC) has become more stringent once again, with several regions in north Kashmir now designated as no-go zones, according to official sources. Several visitors and off-roaders heading for Keran — named among 12 off-beat tourist destinations to be promoted by the J&K government — failed to get permission to travel there this month, official sources said.
The security forces suspected movement of militants after three infiltrators were killed on July 14 close to the LoC in the Keran Sector of Kupwara. The Lieutenant Governor’s administration had planned to promote Keran as a border tourist village as hundreds of tourists have showed interest in the destination since 2022. The high-altitude circuit — which connects Machil with Point 4040 with Zamindari Gali and Bandipora’s Razdan Top — has also been closed for off-roaders this year.
This year, the upper reaches of the Jammu region have experienced heightened activity by highly-trained militants. An estimated eight to twelve infiltrator groups are believed to be operating in the Pir Panjal and Chenab Valleys. Recently, official sources reported that security forces have intensified their vigilance in north Kashmir, particularly in Kupwara district, in response to reports of armed men moving through the forests.
Cross-border goodwill comes to a halt The Pakistani Army has also adopted a tougher stance along the Line of Control (LoC). According to sources, the Pakistan Army has been using mosque public address systems on its side of the border to discourage tourists from approaching the Neelum River in the Keran and Teetwal areas. This river serves as a natural divide between Kashmir and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Recently, visitors on both sides of the river had begun organizing musical events and taking selfies, with many viral videos last year showing tourists enthusiastically waving and whistling at each other across the river. Over the past two years, the Indian Army had gradually opened up more circuits near the LoC to tourists. For more than 30 years, areas close to the LoC in north Kashmir were off-limits to outsiders, as these regions were active battlegrounds between India and Pakistan.
However, after a renewed ceasefire agreement in February 2021, the guns fell silent, and tourists began to explore these areas for the first time. The Army relaxed the process of granting passes, leading to several local residents turning their homes into homestays in the Machil and Keran sectors. Unfortunately, the recent surge in militancy threatens to reverse this progress.
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