KASHMIR: Tourists staying at a hotel in Indian Kashmir which was bombed over the weekend, resulting in the deaths of five people, spoke yesterday about the incident.
Mohammed Javid's dream visit to scenic Kashmir went horribly wrong and left him scarred for life.
"I don't know if I will ever come to Kashmir again," said Mr Javid from New Delhi, recalling Saturday's grenade attack that killed five people and wounded 21 at a popular tourist hotel.
"For the last 10 years we were planning to see Kashmir, but we only came here after we heard the situation had improved. But it was a horrible experience," he said from a Srinagar hospital where he was recovering from leg and stomach injuries.
The militant attack at Pahalgam, a scenic tourist town south-east of Srinagar, comes as a blow to the region's tourism industry, which was showing signs of recovery after nuclear rivals India and Pakistan began a peace process in 2003.
The disputed Himalayan region is renowned for its beautiful forests, mountains and lakes.
Kashmir's chief minister, Mr Mohammad Syed, has ordered an inquiry into the attack and said it was a conspiracy to target "interests of Kashmir" and its people.
"As soon was we sat down for lunch, there was a loud explosion near our table. After a moment there were screams all over. I dragged my children out of the hotel. All of us were bleeding," said Ms Rampali (30) in Srinagar's hospital.
Ms Rampali and her two children, residents of Bombay, were wounded in the explosion at Pahalgam, in which all the victims were Indians.
An eight-year-old girl was among those killed.
Some tourists in Srinagar remained philosophical about the attack.
"No, I am not afraid. Death is destined. I can die in my home, in my office, anywhere," said Mr Ravi Khanna, during a visit to Dal Lake.
Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in Kashmir, the country's only Muslim-majority state, where officials say more than 40,000 people have been killed since 1989.