Pahalgam, a year on: Resilience falters, tourism struggles
Above the green treeline of pine, fir, and deodar, the snow-capped Katsal Peak shines in the bright spring sun and azure blue sky. From his
Above the green treeline of pine, fir, and deodar, the snow-capped Katsal Peak shines in the bright spring sun and azure blue sky. From his rickety wooden shop in Pahalgam’s main market, Ghulam Nabi, 67, sees this peak, at an altitude of 15,860 feet in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, daily. Nabi sells nun chai, the piping hot traditional pink beverage, a savoury brew of roasted green tea and milk, consumed twice a day by locals. NIA names LeT founder Hafiz Saeed as accused in Pahalgam terror attack Every summer in the past, adventure lovers, including those from outside India, would take early morning tea from his shop and trek through either Ganesh Bal or Baisaran meadow to reach the alpine Tulian Lake at the foothills of the peak. Not this year though. Last year, on April 22, a group of terrorists wearing khaki uniforms gunned down 26 unarmed men in the Baisaran meadow that was teeming with around 2,000 visitors at that time. Now, with the meadow and several other destinations closed for tourism, locals have lost their livelihoods, even as new security measures have come into place. Memories and today’s grim reality Long before Pahalgam joined the spots on the terror map in Kashmir, Nabi was witness to the good, bad, and ugly times of the 40-kilometre-long Pahalgam valley, which earns its name from two Kashmiri words: puhul, meaning shepherds; and gam, a village. Running his hands through his thick, curly hair, he vividly recalls the shootings of Bollywood movies at the valley. He talks about the Rajesh Khanna-starrer Roti, shot in the early 1970s, which went on to become a box office hit. “‘Roti was shot just meters away from my shop in the main market. Children and young men would come down from nearby villages to watch the movie shooting till the late evening. There was no fear, just curiosity to see larger-than-life stars. Each movie created a new milestone in our memories,” says Nabi, who makes tea against pictures of actors adorning the walls of the shop: Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Feroz Khan. He even remembers lesser-known movie titles of Jaani Dushman and Khoon Pasina shot at Pahalgam. “I think even Mithun Chakraborty shot in Pahalgam long before he became a star,” he adds. For Nabi, 1988 was when the good memories ended, when militancy broke out in Kashmir, with gunmen roaming the Pahalgam market too. “For me, the period between 1975 and 1988 was the best time in Kashmir. After that, I lost my best Pandit friend Radha Krishan and favourite teacher Jawahar Lal, who fled. Tourism came to a standstill by 1990 in Pahalgam,” he adds. Pointing at the large pictures of the Baisaran meadow dotting the walls of the shop, Nabi terms the 2025 incident as “the worst one” in his lifetime. “The last time I had my moment of glory was when Salman Khan was shooting for Bajrangi Bhaijaan and stopped by for nun chai.
The BriefWire