Despite turbulence, Jammu and Kashmir continues to be a safe destination for foreign tourists as only one minor offence has been recorded against the travelers in the last five years.
A National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report reveals that no case of crime against foreigners emerged in J&K during 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. “There was no case of violence, sexual assault, rape, forgery, theft and cheating reported from Jammu and Kashmir against the foreigners who visited the region in these years,” it says.
The data shows that most of the foreigners, who visited J&K, had stayed only in the Kashmir division. However, on the contrary there have been 22 cases registered against foreigners, who have committed crimes in J&K in the last three years, the NCRB data reveals.
The NCRB report also reveals there was no crime against solo women travelers in Kashmir during the period.
Countries like Germany, UK, US and Canada had issued advisories against travelling to Jammu & Kashmir to their citizens soon after New Delhi on August 5, 2019 revoked J&K’s special status under Article 370 and announced bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two separate union territories.
Officials say that tourism in Kashmir has been badly hit by the negative travel advisories and it is high time to get them lifted so that foreigners will visit the picturesque region.
“Kashmir’s hospitality is known across the globe and since decades we have welcomed foreigners. But unfortunately in the recent past there have been some instances where the foreign governments imposed negative travel advisories to Kashmir which has hampered our business,” said Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya, Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Hoteliers Club.
He urged the government of India to take up the issue of lifting negative advisories keeping in view the ground situation and NCRB data which clearly reflect that Kashmir is a safe place to visit.
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