SRINAGAR: Thousands of Indian tourists, pilgrims and workers have started leaving held Kashmir after a security alert from the local government related to possible militant attacks, two government officials said on Saturday.One senior local government official said the advisory had caused panic and led to the departure of “thousands” of tourists, pilgrims and labourers.

The official did not give a specific number, but he said most of the 20,000 Hindu pilgrims and Indian tourists and the more than 200,000 labourers were leaving the region.

“The advisory has led to panic among people and the visitors here. Kashmir has seen worst times but we as government officials don’t know what is happening?,” said another local government official.

In a mood of anxiety, people sought to stock up on essentials and there were long queues outside petrol pumps, ATMs and medical shops in Srinagar.

Around 60 international tourists arrived on Saturday, one of the local government officials said. The Indian advisory had cautioned tourists in general, but did not give any specific advice to foreign nationals.

Britain and Germany issued advisories on Saturday to their citizens discouraging them from travelling to Jammu & Kashmir.

“Travellers staying in Kashmir (especially the Kashmir Valley and the Armanath Yatra Pilgrimage Route) are advised to leave Jammu and Kashmir,” the German ministry of foreign affairs said.

The UK’s foreign office advised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir with the exceptions of travel by air to Jammu and within the city, and within the region of Ladakh. Prabakar Iyer, 45, had travelled to Srinagar from the southern Indian city of Bengaluru on Thursday with his family for a 10-day holiday, but they left on Friday night.

“I was staying in a houseboat on Dal Lake when the advisory was issued. I fail to understand why we are being asked to leave. Everything is normal here,” he said.

Labourer Manjit Singh, a carpenter from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh who has been working in Kashmir for the last nine years, also left.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2019