Sufi musician, poet and scholar Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau, popularly known as Amir Khusrow, speaking about Jammu and Kashmir had once said: "Agar Firdaus bar ru-ye zamin ast, Hamin ast o hamin ast o hamin ast," which translates to "If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this."
However, the north Indian state is fast losing the paradise tag, considering the terrorism woes and constant stone-pelting incidents, which has also kept many tourists away from the state. In the latest incident in Jammu and Kashmir, a tourist from Haryana went missing in south Kashmir. However, the Anantnag police acted fast on the complaint and he has now been found.
The missing tourist has been traced in Jammu City, we thank you all for your cooperation. @JmuKmrPolice @KashmirPolice https://t.co/SbyfPaNS0p
— Anantnag Police (@AnantnagPolice) May 11, 2018
The man, identified as Rahul Basan, is reportedly a resident of Kundli in Sonepat district on the Delhi-Haryana border and went missing from the Mattan temple in the Anantnag district Thursday, May 10.
Basan had come to the state to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine from Faridabad with 14 other pilgrims but never really took part in prayers. The members of the group told the Press Trust of India that he was facing several marital woes and had been using drugs.
He was at the Mattan temple with the group, but stepped out during prayers. The group couldn't find him any where and registered a complaint. The police then began its search for Basan. They were said to be worried especially since the incident came days after a tourist from Tamil Nadu died in a stone-pelting incident on the on Srinagar-Gulmarg road Monday, May 7.
R Thirumani Selvan, 22, was in the tourist bus with his parents and several other people when stones started raining on them. "It started all of a sudden. Stones started hitting all four buses carrying the tourists. There was very little time to react. Some of us yelled at other passengers to duck and take cover. Only my son, who had earphones plugged in, didn't hear me," his father Rajavel told the Times of India.
The stones hit Selvan on the right side of his head and he succumbed to injuries despite being rushed to the hospital.
Jammu and Kashmir is known to be a popular tourist destination and domestic and international visitors are known to throng the state during the peak seasons. However, tourism in the state took a massive hit after militancy increased in later 1980s.
