Above the green treeline of deodar, deodar and cedar, the snow-covered Katsal peak shines in the bright spring sun and azure blue sky. From his dilapidated wooden shop in the main market of Pahalgam, 67-year-old Ghulam Nabi gazes at the peak, located at an altitude of 15,860 feet in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, every day. Nabi sells nun tea, a hot traditional pink drink made from roasted green tea and milk that locals drink twice a day.
NIA has made Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed an accused in the 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 the Ganesh Bal or Baisaran meadows to reach the alpine Tulian Lake at the foot of the peak. Although not this year.
Last year, on April 22, a group of terrorists wearing khaki uniforms shot 26 unarmed people at the Baisarn grassland, which was packed with about 2,000 visitors at the time.
Now, the meadow and many other destinations are closed to tourism, with locals losing their livelihoods, even as new safety measures are in place.
Memories and today’s bitter reality
Long before Pahalgam was added to the terror map in Kashmir, Nabi was witness to the good, bad and ugly times of the 40 km long Pahalgam Valley, which takes its name from two Kashmiri words: puhulWhich means shepherd; And sorrowA village. Running a hand through his thick, curly hair, he vividly remembers shooting Bollywood films in the valley. He talks about the Rajesh Khanna starrer BreadShot in the early 1970s, it proved to be a box office hit.
“‘Bread He was shot just a few meters away from my shop in the main market. Children and youth from nearby villages used to come till late evening to watch the shooting of the film. There was no fear, just the curiosity of seeing larger than life stars. Each film created a new milestone in our memories,” says Nabi, as he makes tea in front of photographs of actors adorning the shop’s walls: Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Feroz Khan. He also remembers the titles of less famous films. Bitter enemy And blood and sweat Shot in Pahalgam. He further added, “I think Mithun Chakraborty also shot in Pahalgam long before he became a star.”
Tourists in Pahalgam on the first anniversary of the terrorist attack. Photo Courtesy: Imran Nisar
For Nabi, 1988 was the time when good memories ended, when terrorism spread in Kashmir and gunmen were roaming even in Pahalgam market. He further said, “For me, the period between 1975 and 1988 was the best time in Kashmir. After that, I lost my best Pandit friend Radha Krishna and favorite teacher Jawahar Lal, who ran away. Tourism came to a standstill in Pahalgam by 1990.”
Pointing to large photographs of the Baisarn grasslands on the walls of the shop, Nabi describes the 2025 event as “the worst event” in his lifetime. “The last time I had a proud moment was when Salman Khan was shooting Bajrangi Bhaijaan And the nun stopped for tea. That was in 2015,” he says.
He remembers April 22: the first sounds of gunshots and people gathering to assess what they might have meant. Then female tourists were running scared in the market, their clothes were covered with mud and they were screaming. “I started searching for my son,” says Nabi.
Nabi’s son Bilal Ahmed is a photographer who takes pictures of couples on honeymoon, friends on adventure trips and families relaxing in the Baisarn grasslands. He was in the meadow that day, but escaped unharmed. Nabi says, “The horrific images of Baisaran kept my son sleepless for several days after the incident. He refused to eat.”
According to the 2011 census, Pahalgam has a population of around 10,000 and the population of its own and surrounding villages is dependent on tourism. With Baisaran still closed to tourist activities, Nabi’s son is among 600 locals who have lost their livelihoods. Now, there are no pony rides, all-terrain-vehicle drives, food items or taking photos in the meadow.
According to Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporation (JKCCC) officials, the 1.4 km long cable car will connect the non-motorable Baisaran grassland with the government’s Yatri Niwas Hotel in Pahalgam and is likely to become an attraction for pilgrims coming for the annual Amarnath Yatra. The ₹120 crore forest-deforestation project will require 9.13 hectares of land from the forest department.
Mehraj Din Wani, an ATV owner, says, “The attack has ended our livelihood forever. With the introduction of the cable car, those who own ponies and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) will become unemployed.”
Many ATV owners like Mehraj have failed to repay their loans. “I took a loan and bought an ATV for ₹2.75 lakh in 2021, when tourism was at its peak here. I missed most of my monthly installments in the last one year due to the decline in tourism,” says Mehraj.
In the crisscrossing hair of terrorists
Pahalgam has always been the target of terrorists. According to security officials, the reason for this is its topography. This location, surrounded by dense forests and high, deserted mountain ranges, gives terrorists the advantage of hiding in the forests to reach remote places like Sonamarg, Srinagar, Kishtwar and Kargil in Ladakh through trekking, without touching human settlements.
In 1995, al-Faran, a terrorist organization, kidnapped six foreign tourists, one of whom was an American, beheading him and leaving four for dead. In 2000 the Nunawan base camp was attacked and in 2001 gunmen attacked the Amarnath Yatra at Sheshnag Lake. Dozens of pilgrims died in both these incidents.
Security has been tightened in Pahalgam and surrounding areas and personnel are using sniffer dogs on the banks of Lidder river. | Photo Courtesy: Imran Nisar
The valley has witnessed several grenade attacks and explosions of improvised explosive devices since the 1990s. Rehman Ahmed, owner of five horses, was also shot in crossfiring following a landmine blast in the main Pahalgam market in the early 1990s. “A bullet hit me in the leg. Since then, I stopped escorting pilgrims to the Amarnath temple, but my son has carried on the tradition,” says Ahmed.
Each time, local people have found ways to recover to some extent. This time, the resilience is faltering. Mushtaq Pahalgami, a social activist who heads the non-profit Himalaya Welfare Organisation, which works at the local level on a variety of issues, is concerned about the livelihoods of pony owners and small-scale local businesses.
“There is an urgent need to take a compassionate and balanced approach to the situation,” he says, appealing to Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to reopen the major tourist destinations of Baisaran, Dabian and Chandanwari in Pahalgam. “The prolonged closure has severely impacted livelihoods,” says Pahalgami.
At least 48 tourist places were closed for tourism after the attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Many such as Betaab Ghati of Pahalgam are named after the Sunny Deol starrer film desperate which was shot there, was reopened after two months. Aru, a favorite of trekkers, opened after five months. Officials say a safety audit of the closed sites in Pahalgam is still underway “to address any deficiencies”.
inflection point for safety
The Pahalgam attack has become an inflection point for the security grid in Kashmir. Firstly, seven houses of terrorists belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba were demolished in Kashmir after the attack. Blasts were also carried out at the houses of three suspects of the Pahalgam attack identified by Jammu and Kashmir Police. Official records show that the house of Ehsan Ul Haq Sheikh of Muran, Pulwama; Zakir Ahmed Ganai from Matalhama village in Kulgam and Shahid Ahmed Kute from Chotipora in Shopian were demolished in a rare security measure. “We are yet to recover all the damage caused by the late evening blast at the terrorist’s house. The blast destroyed several residential houses in the area,” said a resident of Muran, who is a neighbor of the suspected terrorist, on condition of anonymity.
In July last year, the Army launched Operation Mahadev, and killed three Pahalgam attackers in Srinagar’s Lidwas area in the upper reaches of the Dachigam forest area adjoining Pahalgam. He was identified as battle-hardened Suleiman, also known as Faisal Jatt; Zibran; and Hamza Afghani, all non-locals.
Multi-layered security deployment has been made in Pahalgam after the attack. Firstly, tourism service providers have been provided with quick-response (QR) codes, which they need to carry with them instead of identity cards. “The exercise was done after police verification and background check of these locals,” says a senior officer.
Tourism players have welcomed the move. Rauf Wani, a service provider, says the process of distribution of QR codes started two months ago. “This is a good step. Only authentic service providers will operate and tourists will also feel safe with QR holders,” says Ruf.
Every visitor to Pahalgam has to present himself before the AI-based facial recognition system of Jammu and Kashmir Police. This, he says, is to ensure that no terrorist, over-ground worker or history-sheeter enters the tourist spot. Officials say a database has been put into the system to identify and detain such persons.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Naeem Akhtar says former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s approach is more viable than over-securitization of Pahalgam. Akhtar says, “Tourism is not an indicator of normalcy in the context of Kashmir. If we present it that way, it is easy for a rival to deflate this normalcy balloon. Let tourism grow as a regular economic activity.”
are bearing the brunt
For the hotel industry, the attack has cast a long shadow over more than 5,000 properties. Javed Burja, who owns one of the oldest hotels, Mount View, is the president of Pahalgam Hotels and Owners Association (PHOA). Out of 72 employees, they have been forced to lay off 27 employees. “My hotel is one of the very few that has retained staff after the attacks. About 90% of hotel owners have cut jobs by more than 50%,” says Burza.
A view of Pahalgam market before the first anniversary of the terrorist attack. Photo Courtesy: Imran Nisar
As of April 22, 2025, Mount View had full occupancy and was booked through July. “After a year, it has gradually reached 30-40%. For three months, we had less than 5% bookings,” says Burja, who has been working in the tourism industry for the past 42 years. To bring back tourists in Pahalgam, all hotels are offering 50% discount on tariffs. “We still want to strike a balance,” Burza says.
The tourism sector witnessed a boom between 2021 and 2024, when a record number of 26 lakh tourists visited the Kashmir Valley, prompting locals to invest in hotels and guest houses in places like Yanner, Sallar and Langnabal adjacent to Pahalgam. However, after the attacks the number of tourists dropped to about 11 lakh last year. All these areas, which were earlier villages, were converted into huge hotel colonies to cater to the increasing crowd of tourists in Pahalgam before the attack.
According to tourism department estimates, more than 300 new hotels were built in these villages in the last 10 years. After the attack, many hotels under construction stopped work. Many people are selling their properties to repay loans.
“We paid ₹10 lakh to run a hotel on lease in Langanbal for a year in 2025. We failed to raise the money. I am planning to sell the land to pay the lease amount,” says local entrepreneur Niaz Jaan.
On the first anniversary of the Pahalgam attack, social activist Pahalgami wrote a poem titled ‘Lamp of Memory’ to pay tribute to those who lost their lives. It reads: “In the silent air of the valley of Kashmir, there is a trace of pain; on the roads of Pahalgam, that laughter now seems faint; a year has passed since that moment, yet the wounds are still present silently in the hearts.”
He says that the Himalayas have seen violence and pain in peace.
eerzada.ashiq@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunalini Mathew
