Keran (Jammu and Kashmir): For decades, the hostile relations between India and Pakistan had left picturesque areas of the Line of Control in the frontier Kupwara district as nothing more than a battlefield between the two armies with heavy shelling across the border. The daily shelling and firing at LoC would leave its beautiful spots in hiding zones and its residents terrified.
Since India and Pakistan in February 2020 revisited the 2003 ceasefire agreement, the daily shelling has stopped much to the sigh of relief for the locals here. While the residents are cherishing peace, the picturesque areas are turning into tourist spots with local and non-local visitors thronging the hill stations. Located on the banks of Kishengaga or Neelum river, Keran, 32 kilometers from Kupwara town in north Kashmir at LoC, is reaping the fruits of ceasefire and peace.
Residents have set up camping sites and converted their houses into homestays for visitors. Fakhruddin Wani, a resident of the Madian hamlet of Keran, has set up tents on the banks of gushing Kishengaga or Neelum river to rent them to tourists. "The ceasefire has ensured that tourists come to Keran which has opened up livelihood opportunities for us," Wani told ETV Bharat in Keran.
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Those who visit Keran are awestruck by the tall, green deodar trees and picturesque hills which offer many trekking sites near their gushing streams. "I have come from Srinagar for the first time to visit this place after getting permission from authorities. Keran is a beautiful place and leaves us awestruck with its magnificent beauty," Muhammad Maqbool, a tourist said.
Many residents like Idrees Khan have renovated their houses for homestays of visitors where they accommodate tourists, providing them meals. "This is a good beginning for us. We pray the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan continues so that we earn our livelihood, and our area too develops better than that administered by Pakistan," Khan told ETV Bharat.
The revised ceasefire of February 2020 between the two neighboring countries is perceived as a major breakthrough to ensure peace along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir despite the hostile political relations between the two countries on the Kashmir issue, which have aggravated following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, by the BJP government.
