J&K floods: Tourists robbed, forced to say 'Pakistan zindabad' in Srinagar

Bengaluru: In a vindication of Delhi's suspicions that Pakistan-leaning militants were stoking anger and anti-India feelings among the local populace in the aftermath of one of the biggest tragedies to unfold in Kashmir's 60 year history, a group of tourists from Karnataka, were forced to shout pro-Pakistan slogans even as they were robbed of all their valuables at gun-point in the heart of the J & K capital, Srinagar.

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Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, soon after he landed in Bengaluru, after days of being at the mercy of an unhelpful Kashmiri staff at a local hotel, Basavaraj, 59, resident of Sudhamanagar said:  "We were staying in a hotel near the golf course in Srinagar when the floods hit. We were all marooned inside the hotel room and starved for four days, surviving on just two litres of water. Finally, we were told the army had arrived to rescue tourists and directed to the helipad," he said.

But the 12 km trek to the helipad proved more dangerous than they had anticipated as enroute, they were surrounded threateningly by some of the locals. "We lost most of our belongings,"Mr Basavaraj recalled ruefully. "There was no security for us tourists. The local police didn't help. We don't know the identify of the men who surrounded us but they were unquestionably, locals,"' he added.