A year has passed, but the wounds are still fresh. It was on April 22 last year when 26 people, most of them tourists, were brutally gunned down by terrorists in Baisaran Valley of Pahalgam. Tragedy was deep, and loss was profound. Yet it did not divide people. For the first time, people from Kashmir took to the streets against terrorists. The protests were spontaneous. People from all walks of life registered their protest in their own way. Grief-stricken people said it loudly, Enough is enough”. Who can forget braveheart ponywala Syed Adil Hussain? When terrorists charged at tourists, Adil, caring little for his safety, stood like a rock and tried to snatch their weapons to save his guests. A heartless terrorist shot him in the neck, but not before he made his name in the annals of history. Adil’s story is not an isolated case. His cousin, too, was instrumental in saving the lives of tourists. His cousin carried people on his back to save them from terrorists’ bullets. Pahalgam was the last straw in Indo-Pak relations. India suspended the Indus Water Treaty soon after the attack. Hundreds of Pakistanis across the country were asked to leave India. It was, however, Kashmir that suffered the most. Even after a year, we are still reeling from the impact of the attack. Tourism took the biggest hit post-Pahalgam attack. Before April 22, 2025, the valley was bursting at the seams with tourists. Over 5.25 lakh tourists had visited the valley in the first three months of 2025. These include 5,14,845 domestic and 10,427 foreign tourists. Overall, 1.77 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2025. They included 36,000 foreigners, Vaishno Devi pilgrims, and Amarnath yatries. A record 2.35 crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2024. Domestic tourist numbers shot up tenfold, from 25.19 lakh in 2020 to 2.35 crore in 2024. Official figures reveal that Kashmir hosted 10.68 lakh tourists in 2025. They include 10.47 lakh domestic and 21,361 foreign tourists. April 22 reminds us of the horrors of terrorism. Jammu and Kashmir has borne the brunt for 35 years. Thousands of people have lost their lives in the violence. Terrorists tried to break the Kashmiris’ resilience, but they failed. However, we paid a huge price economically. Though there are signs of tourism revival, it has not reached last year’s figures. The government has a huge responsibility to come to the rescue of the people associated with the tourism trade. Many people lost their livelihood after the attack. A special economic package for the tourism industry is the need of the hour. Loan restructuring and interest subvention can help people in distress. Compensation for the losses can help people to restart their lives again. Having said so, we must not forget the victims of the attack. We should ensure that no family suffers financially. The government needs to adopt a humane approach to deal with the situation.
Lest we forget
