10 years on, Kargil lures tourists too

THEY braved shells to feed and shelter about 100 scribes during the Kargil conflict and now ten years later they continue to function with a smile and open arms waiting for the area to be thrown open to tourists'Hotel Siachen' and 'De Zozilla' were the two hotels that catered to journalists from various media houses, who had thronged the otherwise little known Kargil for the coverage of the 1999 conflictAnd now a decade later, their staff still remembers the trauma and jubilation that they went through as news of either an Indian soldier being killed or another point being recaptured from the clutches of the Pakistan's Army, poured in respectively"Earlier, I had thought of going to Srinagar but the reporters persuaded me in keeping the hotel open despite the shells which were landing in the nearby market (Lal Chowk) where my hotel is located," Mohammed Sadiq, the owner of 'Hotel Siachen' saidSadiq, 55, who ran the 23-room hotel when the conflict was as its peak and the town deserted because of heavy shelling from the enemy's side, said what kept him going was the fact that the journalists were taking risk and doing their job, and they would not have a place to stay if he shuts down the hotelOwner of 'De Zozilla', Haji Rangin Ali, too fondly remembers the day when his 39-room hotel displayed a placard with "packed" written on it"It was a safe location for the scribes as shells were either hitting places much ahead of the hotel or just behind," Ali saidExcited about the State Government's plan to develop certain landmarks of Kargil conflict as tourist destinations, Sadiq said, "This year, there is a steep decline in the number of foreigners who used to come here primarily for mountaineering purposesBut we have no qualms about it. The number of domestic tourists has gone up". "Earlier, they used to spend a night on the way to Srinagar or Leh, but now they want to see the places where the battle took place," he addedHowever, hoteliers and locals say a lot needs to be done to promote Kargil as an attractive destination for tourists"Road connectivity is a big problem here. Proper marketing of this destination is also the need of the hour," Leader of Opposition in the Ladakh Autonomous Council, Haji Asgar Ali Karbalaie, saidOther destinations like Suru valley, Tiger Hill, Gun Hill, Drass and Buddhist sites like Sankhu and Mulbekh which have 30-40 feet tall Buddha statues should be connected as a tourist circuit," he saidAli said the Kargil conflict had given this scenic district an "identity" which has helped bringing in domestic tourists"The conflict has helped us in getting an identityPeople now know what Kargil is. At least when we tell people that we are from Kargil they associate us with the place where the Indian Army fought with Pakistani soldiers," he saidEarlier, Kargil's significance was limited to the Army because of its proximity to the LoC that separates the Indian and the Pakistani side of KashmirBut in the last few years the number of tourists has gone up. From a transit point on the way to Leh from Srinagar and vice-versa, he said