Srinagar: Punching more holes in the Union home ministry’s defence of the lapses that led to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, former Jammu and Kashmir minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir has said that tourists have never needed police permission for visiting the Baisaran meadow where the carnage took place on April 22.

Speaking during the special session of J&K legislative assembly on Monday (April 28) which was convened to condemn the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Mir said that the meadow where the carnage took place had witnessed an increase in tourist footfall this year. 

“No department asks for permission for visiting Baisaran, Aru, Chandanwari and Betaab valley. Tourists visit (Pahalgam) and go wherever they wish to. Security forces should have raised a vigil (in Baisaran) if 400-500 tourists were going there daily, which has not happened.” 

He added, “I am not saying this. It has been accepted by the (Union) home minister (Amit Shah) himself.”

According to official data in the possession of The Wire, the lush meadow located in the higher reaches, some seven kilometres from Pahalgam in Anantnag district of south Kashmir, officially opened for tourists last year on April 13. The opening took place after the culmination of the tendering process for the ticket collection counter located outside the meadow. 

Baisaran is one of the many assets in the south Kashmir tourist resort that are outsourced to private players by the government-run Pahalgam Development Authority (PDA) for two or more years. The list also includes Betaab Valley, some hotels, huts and parks, including in the Aru village, and others. 

While the rates for visiting or staying at these properties in Pahalgam are fixed by the PDA, the contracting process takes place through open tenders. In 2024, a single-person entry to the Baisaran meadow was fixed at Rs 35. 

“About 2.3 lakh tourists visited the meadow from April 13, 2024, to April 12, 2025,” a source said, quoting the number of tickets sold during this period. 

During an all-party meeting in Delhi on Thursday, Shah had reportedly told party leaders that “just under a thousand tourists” visited the Baisaran meadow from April 20 to 22.

However, the source quoted above said that around 20,000 tourists had already visited Baisaran in ten days from April 13 to April 22 this year when the terrorist attack took place.

The source added that the tender for the ticket collection was awarded last year and no police permission was required before the meadow’s opening. 

A senior government official said that the movement of tourists gets restricted in the south Kashmir resort only during the annual Amarnath yatra. 

Thousands of security personnel are deployed during the yatra period for the safety of Hindu pilgrims who undertake the treacherous mountain trek to the sacred cave in the Himalayas housing an ice stalagmite which is believed to be a phallic symbol of Lord Shiva.

“The meadow has always remained open for tourists except during the winter months when the rugged trail remains covered under snow,” the official said.  

A tour operator in Srinagar said that some tourist destinations in Kashmir are restricted due to their close proximity with the Line of Control or other security concerns. However, he said, “Baisaran is not among them.”

“Police and Army permission is needed for visiting some destinations like Botapathri and Bangus valley. Baisaran is a popular destination but it has always remained open without any restrictions,” the tour operator, who wished to remain anonymous, said. 

The Baisaran meadow can be reached by a chopper, on foot or on horseback, which is the more popular option for tourists. Around 800-1200 people make a living from horse-riding tourists up the steep dirt track to the sprawling meadow, which became the scene of a bloodbath on April 22.

“We have been going to Baisaran and other places in Pahalgam for several years. The rates are fixed by the PDA but these destinations have always remained open except when the weather is not good,” a resident of Anantnag, who operates his horse in Pahalgam, said. 

The Congress leader Mir said in J&K legislative assembly on Monday that there were “public rumours” about the likelihood of a terrorist attack similar to the one that took place in Baisaran.

“Security agencies have also said they had inputs. If there were inputs as well as rumours, why was no effort made to collect these inputs? Where did the lapse happen?,” Mir, a south Kashmir legislator, said, refuting claims that police permission was not sought before opening the meadow.

Officials from the home ministry and the Intelligence Bureau had informed the all-party meeting on Thursday that police permission was not sought for opening the Baisaran meadow. A two-minute silence was observed in the J&K assembly to honour 26 civilians, mostly tourists, who died in the terrorist attack.

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