JK tourism industry stakeholders question dress code diktat

"Jamaat-e-Islami being a responsible organisation should have held a debate with the stakeholders in the tourism industry on the issue before going public," Kashmir Tourism and Restaurant Association president Siraj Ahmad said.

Echoing his views, Bashir Ahmad, a taxi driver, said, "It is an ill-conceived and totally ill-timed move. It has the potential to harm the tourism industry, which had shown encouraging signs over the past couple of years in the state."

"There is an unprecedented tourist rush in the Valley... We hope it (the statement) does not affect our livelihood...It can scare the tourists away," he said.

Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir on July 2 had asked tourists visiting the Valley to desist from wearing skimpy clothes and warned them of an angry reaction if they failed to do so.

"Some tourists, mostly foreigners, are seen wandering in short mini-skirts and other objectionable dresses openly...We need no such guests who can become a cause of derailing the society from the right track and spread immorality and immodesty in the name of tourism," the politico-religious body spokesman Zahid Ali had said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Kashmir Tourism Director Talat Parvaiz said the issue was very sensitive and beyond his jurisdiction to comment upon.

"It is a very sensitive issue and I am not in a position to comment on it," Parvaiz said.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who usually tweets on such issues, has so far not commented on the matter.

Repeated attempts to contact Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora and Minister of State for Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani did not fructify.