“We need handholding to resuscitate, not babus throwing the rulebook at us”

Tourism is the best barometer of the situation in Kashmir: if it is troubled, the numbers plunge and if the Valley is at peace, they rise dramatically. No one knows this better than hotelier Mushtaq Chaya, 70, chairman of the Mushtaq Group of Hotels, which has properties in J&K and Delhi. Chaya, in the hotel business since the mid’80s, says the past five years have been disastrous for tourism as militant violence in 2016, political instability in 2018, the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the rolling lockdowns of the Covid pandemic have all but broken the sector’s back in the Valley.

The previous year was the worst, with tourist numbers down to 43,059 compared to the average of 1.4 million visitors in the previous years. There was an uptick only just prior to the second wave and this summer, when domestic tourists have flocked the

Valley in relatively impressive numbers. “We now have around 40 per cent occupancy,” says Chaya. Yet, it will be a while before things get to where they were. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates that J&K lost Rs 40,000 crore in business and 500,000 jobs due to the shutdown of internet and visitors first because of political developments and then courtesy Covid lockdowns.

Tourism remains vital to J&K’s growth, being the biggest contributor to its GDP. Chaya says there has been no improvement in the sector in the past year and a half despite the UT announcing a “nice new industrial policy” this April. In addition to identifying key areas of industrial growth, creating land banks and providing incentives to set up factories, the new industrial policy promises to spend Rs 28,000 crore in the next 15 years, including on infrastructure development. But the older hurdles remain, among them the requirement for government permission to renovate and repair bathrooms or undertake interior changes, particularly in Gulmarg, where hotels have been let out on long leases. “We need handholding to resuscitate us, not babus throwing the rulebook at us,” says Chaya.

What about the political developments in the Valley? Chaya says, “We should not be living in fear for speaking out or be looked upon with suspicion. Genuine difficulties should be heard and resolved. And the early return of statehood is a must—give back our respect and end our humiliation.”