By Shishir Prashant 
Lessons from Pahalgam and Nainital
By Dr Vinod Sharma
Pahalgam and Nainital incidents should not be taken lightly. It should be considered a war against the growing Indian economy.
All our neighbours and many countries are jealous of the unprecedented economic growth in India. So they have initiated a covert war against India. After the Pahalgam terror attack, tourism in Kashmir has suffered a lot. Rape case in Nainital has also affected tourism in Uttarakhand. Immediately after the Nainital tension grew, tourists started vacating hotels and other accommodations. According to an estimate, this weekend very less tourists have come to Mussoorie. Hotel association of Mussoorie has raised the concern. People don’t feel secure now in tourist places.
Since the Chardham yatra has also got off to a flying start in Uttarakhand, it is the responsibility of the state and the centre to provide complete security to all pilgrims and other tourists. Strict checking of all incoming tourists should be done. Not only that the people who are trying to change demography of the hills should be also checked. In Kashmir there is open truth that the Pahalgam attack occurred with local support only.
Uttarakhand is a state which is earning maximum revenue from the tourism because of holy shrines, beautiful Himalayan hills and rich biodiversity. So no doubt Uttarakhand may be now on the target of enemy countries.
When India declared that all people holding Pakistani visas should go back, new revelations came to light – a spurt in cross-border marriages between the two countries. Now these women have children and grand children. One Pakistani woman claimed on the social media that she is living in India for last 41 years.
In one such case, a CRPF personnel got married to a Pakistani girl that too through WhatsApp. Authorities came to know about this particular incident only when he was sending his wife back to Pakistan.
What a porous system we have in India. Anybody can come in our pious land and get settle with Aadhar card, pan card and even voter identity. A Pakistani youth claimed that he is settled in Kashmir for last 15 years and has voted in elections.
Without any iota of doubt it’s our system failure. According to an estimate, nearly 5 lakh Pakistani women with average 5 children are staying in India with all the privileges provided by the Indian government. In such cases why anyone would like to go back to country whose leaders are globetrotting with begging bowls to sustain its economy.
Similar is the case with Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. They easily come to India and get settle with all kinds of documents made in illegal way.
What is our home ministry doing? What kind of monitoring or surveillance is taking place at the borders? Do they keep records of those whose visas get expired? Now we are crying about the fast changing demographic ratio in India. We have to save India by becoming more vigilant.
Let us start cleaning Uttarakhand to prevent it from becoming another Kashmir. Implement NRC and UCC immediately.
About author: Dr Vinod Sharma is a retired Group General Manager from ONGC and travels widely. The opinion expressed by the author in this column is his personal.