First and foremost, it may seem like boasting, but it's a fact. I'm probably the only non-Kashmiri travel agent who has visited Kashmir every year of my life since birth. In that sense, we were also felicitated in Kashmir because we were the only company that did not suspend our tours even during peak of militancy from 1995-2005. When Asif Ali gave that infamous speech of Pakistan's juggler Kashmir and the nation theory, Muslims, etc. I was told that something was going to happen because they were on overdrive to repair their image. But if you understand Pakistan, you will realise they are not into image building. The only thing that galvanises them is Kashmir. If the government does anything in Kashmir, the whole nation unites with them. That was my fear.
So, now come to the reality of what happened. It was a coincidence that I was in Jammu with the CM's team for two to three big projects. I was in Jammu on the 20th and 21st with the CM's team. On the 22nd, I flew down to Srinagar. I was to fly the next day to Mumbai. I cancelled my flight and drove straight to the convention centre because the parliamentary delegation committee had come to Srinagar to SKSC for the conference. Because of the attack, the delegation deemed it inappropriate to hold the conference. We were chatting over chai and coffee, and we learned two things. One was the news that the world was still grappling with. At the same time, there was so much outpouring from all over Kashmir that people were coming out on the streets in the evening. We immediately said amongst ourselves that Pakistan had overplayed its card this time. They were upset that normalcy was coming back. They were saying they did everything for Afghanistan, but their people are supporting India. In the same way, they were talking about Kashmir. Pakistan thought that such a huge act would scare the shit out of Kashmiris and put India into a fight with Muslims. And as far as the grassroots is concerned, they have managed to do something of that sort on social media. But people didn't come out on the streets and riots didn't break out.
For the first time, in Kashmir, in three decades, we saw unanimous outpouring of anger and sadness. Now, foolishly, some people in India say they're doing it because they're getting affected. Three decades ago, I would say the support was 60% Azadi, 25% Pakistan, 15% India. A decade ago, it had come down to about 50% Azadi, 30% India, 20% Pakistan. Today it’s more than 50% India. People in India will not understand and appreciate it because they have not lived and mapped it for 30 years. Now, if you see all this culmination, the fact is we will lose a beautiful opportunity. Kashmir has come back to us. I went to Pahalgam to offer prayers on the fourth day. Adil, a ghodewala, who was the first guy to be shot dead, tried to snatch the guns and fight with the terrorists. When I heard his mom cry, I asked myself: would I have jumped in and taken the gun? I said this in front of Omar Saab, his entire cabinet and about 100 stakeholders in the meeting. I'm ashamed to say I would not have. I would have been the last guy to run away, but I would not have jumped to take a gun. That is the power of that AK-47 and we know what that gun is.
The local MLA said we will go ahead to Pahalgam. We purposely went to the taxi union. The Srinagar taxi union people came rushing when they realised that I was coming there. The ghodawala’s union people and some guides had come. They were all lamenting, crying, a little saddened and angry. They said, ‘Sir, everyone is saying that it is because of local support. It could be one or two people. But not all of us.’
One old man, who knew my mother well, said that during the Amarnath Yatra, the taxiwalas took Yatris to Chandanwari when there was a ban. In the night, 14 terrorists with AK-47s stormed their village and started asking to bring the taxi fellows out who took them. The entire village ran out to hit them with stones. They did that because they knew these were local terrorists. The minute the dynamics then shift to Pakistani infiltration, those guys would start spraying. Those terrorists ran away. They caught two taxi fellows as they were running and hid in the jungle the whole night because they realised the village would come and butcher them. But they're saying that this is what we can do now. Five years before this, two people were shot dead in the village. The whole village feels that if we tell terrorists about them, they will kill us. If we don't tell them, the army and police will beat us. But beating is preferred to being killed. Another guy is saying, ‘I am really feeling ashamed and sorry that this happened in my state and region. But apart from this, what can we do?’ How can we just blame all of them? Some have no love for us but are finding the economic hit and coming out. But if the majority is 80%, you must credit that 80. There are a lot of security issues. Having said that, the first thing we need to do is have this diagnostic positioning mellowed down.
Abhijeet Patil is the Chairman and CEO of Raja Rani Travels Pvt Ltd, a 73-year-old leading travel house. It has worked for seven decades in national integration work in Jammu and Kashmir and has been felicitated by the government as ‘Dost E Kashmir’.
– As told to Sapna Sarfare
