Multiple accounts of people’s visits to Baisaran Valley over the last few months seem to fly in the face of the Centre’s reported claim that there was no police permission for tourists to visit the meadow in Pahalgam where terrorists gunned down at least 26 people in the worst attack of its kind in years in Jammu and Kashmir.
The government’s claim, made in the all-party meeting Thursday to discuss the attack, was reported by The Hindu: “According to Opposition sources, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the meeting that the meadow was opened to tourists without police permission, and in two days, more than 1,000 people had visited.”
Sources said a special director in the Intelligence Bureau briefed the leaders about the incident. He reportedly told them that the locality was thrown open to tourists on April 20 without informing security forces, while usually, it is accessible to tourists and Amarnath pilgrims only in June.
At the same time, the government officials highlighted that the site of the terror attack was a 45-minute uphill walk and that the security forces had to go on trek for the rescue operation.
In many Google reviews, however, people have written they visited the spot in March. All the reviewers posted their pictures, talked about the scenic beauty of the place, some termed it as a 'worst experience' while others praised the beauty.
One of the reviewers who visited the place two weeks ago complained about the facilities and wrote: "No proper government display of pricing of horse ride.The ride is very risky. There should be safety guidelines, interference of government officials is a must to avoid fatalities."
"Avoid this spot while you visit Kashmir. The pony guides are always looking for shortcuts so that they can quickly pick and drop you in order to move to the next ride," said another reviewer who visited a month ago.
A journalist with The Telegraph Online also visited the meadow in November 2024.
“I had visited the Baisaran meadow, which is commonly referred as Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam, towards the end of November. Since, it was receding autumn and onset of winters and snowfall, the footfall was huge at the base camp from where one takes pony to the valley. There was army presence at the base camp parking area, but I was surprised to not witness any army men/soldiers at the Baisaran Valley, given how sensitive Kashmir is,” the journalist remembered.
Many spots in the high mountains are closed for winter due to snow. So it is possible that it was reopened after winter. But a Kolkata-based IT professional who works with TCS also visited the place in March 2025.
"I was surprised how the incident took place in the presence of the army soldiers,” she told The Telegraph Online, requesting anonymity.
“Me and my husband visited the place in the beginning of March. There was huge security and we were told not to cross certain points. The security forces were always on their toes instructing us where to go and where not to. Whatever the government is saying can't be true because this is the time maximum people visit the spot every year. Even previous year my parents visited the place around the same time."
BJP leader Kiren Rijiju reportedly pointed out at the all-party meeting that the Baisaran meadow was not accessible except by foot or by pony and was far from the main road. “It takes two to two-and-a-half hours to reach there,” he said, as reported by The Hindu.
According to another published report, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi questioned the government over the lapses in security and said: “Are you saying that you are admitting security lapses as security personnel were absent? Are you saying that you did not know that thousands of tourists are reaching the locality? Are you saying that you did not know that the locality was open?"
Supriya Sule, MP of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), was quoted as saying that a travel agent in Pune knew that the Baisaran Valley was open and he was sending tourists to the locality.
“If a travel agent can know about this, why can’t our security agencies know,” she reportedly asked at the all-party meeting.
A source present at the all-party meeting claimed to The Telegraph that Amit Shah had acknowledged that there was a security lapse.
“Had there been no lapse, why would we be here?” the source quoted the home minister as saying.