Healing Through Hospitality After the Pahalgam Tragedy

AS SOMEONE WHO HAS GROWN UP WATCHING KASHMIR STRUGGLE BETWEEN MOMENTS OF BEAUTY AND BOUTS OF CONFLICT, I'VE SEEN HOW IMPORTANT TOURISM IS TO US-NOT MERELY FOR ECONOMIC SURVIVAL, BUT FOR THE EMOTIONAL DIGNITY IT BRINGS. TOURISTS MAKE US FEEL SEEN, VALUED, AND CONNECTED TO THE WORLD BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS.

- SHAFIYA SHOWKAT

There are moments in life when silence carries more weight than words. here are some mornings in Kashmir when the air seems heavier than usual. The mountains, which usually rise proudly into the sky, appear muted in grief, and the rivers flow a little slower, as if mourning with the people. After the tragic Pahalgam attack, Kashmir woke up to one such morning. It wasn't just an attack on lives; it felt like an assault on the spirit of a place that has always tried, despite its painful history, to welcome others with warmth and open-heartedness. I remember returning home to Kashmir from Delhi shortly after the Pahalgam tragedy, and I'll never forget how that silence greeted me.

The usual hum of life—vendors calling out their goods, tourists asking for directions, shikaras gliding gently over the Dal Lake—had disappeared. The streets were not just empty; they felt hollow. The same roads that once burst with the energy of visiting families, cameras in hand and wonder in their eyes, now lay bare and still. My heart broke a little in that moment—not just for the lives lost, but for what it meant for my people, for our identity, for our collective spirit.

As someone who has grown up watching Kashmir struggle between moments of beauty and bouts of conflict, I've seen how important tourism is to us—not merely for economic survival, but for the emotional dignity it brings. Tourists make us feel seen, valued, and connected to the world beyond the mountains. Their presence tells us that people still believe in the beauty of our land, and by extension, in us.