India's government on Friday asked hundreds of thousands of tourists and Hindu pilgrims visiting a shrine in India-administered Kashmir to "curtail their stay" and return home as soon as possible amid concern over security threats.

The Jammu and Kashmir state government cited "the prevailing security situation" and "intelligence inputs of terror threats" against Hindus participating in the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath shrine. The 45-day pilgrimage to the mountainous cave started on July 1, drawing about 300,000 pilgrims so far.

Read more: India and Pakistan's troubled history

On Saturday, thousands of tourists and students scrambled to get places on planes and buses leaving Kashmir. Anxious visitors, including some foreigners, flooded the airport in the region's main city Srinagar, many without tickets for flights that day.

Germany and the United Kingdom have also warned their citizens to avoid all travel to Jammu and Kashmir. "Travelers staying in Kashmir (especially the Kashmir Valley and the Armanath Yatra Pilgrimage Route) are advised to leave Jammu and Kashmir," the German Foreign Ministry said.

The UK's Foreign Office advised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir with the exceptions of travel by air to Jammu and within the city, and within the region of Ladakh.

Opposition criticism

The Indian government's advisory comes a week after New Delhi deployed 10,000 more soldiers to the Himalayan territory that has experienced years of deadly fighting with Muslim rebels.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan both claim the whole of divided Kashmir, over which they have fought two of three wars since independence in 1947.

In recent months, there have been nearly daily clashes between Indian soldiers and militants, which New Delhi says are backed by Pakistan. Islamabad denies the accusations, saying its support is only political.

Most Kashmiris want the territory to be united with Pakistan or ruled as an independent country.

India's opposition parties have slammed the government for issuing the advisory. The order "has scared citizens," Ghulam Nabi Azad, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress, was quoted by broadcaster NDTV as saying at a press conference. "The government is trying to create an atmosphere of hate, saying that Kashmir is unsafe for outsiders. We condemn this decision by the government of India."

Kashmir is again "on edge," Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and president of the People's Democratic Party, said in a tweet. "It's a travesty" that India's federal government "hasn't made effort to reach out & clarify recent developments," she wrote.

Kashmiris fearful of crackdown

The travel advisory and troop buildup are likely to escalate tensions in a region already rocked by regular protests against Indian rule in the Muslim-majority territory.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price An unprecedented danger? On February 27, Pakistan's military said that it had shot down two Indian fighter jets over disputed Kashmir. A Pakistani military spokesman said the jets were shot down after they'd entered Pakistani airspace. It is the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have conducted air strikes against each other.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price India drops bombs inside Pakistan The Pakistani military has released this image to show that Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistani territory for the first time since the countries went to war in 1971. India said the air strike was in response to a recent suicide attack on Indian troops based in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan said there were no casualties and that its airforce repelled India's aircraft.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price No military solution Some Indian civil society members believe New Delhi cannot exonerate itself from responsibility by accusing Islamabad of creating unrest in the Kashmir valley. A number of rights organizations demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government reduce the number of troops in Kashmir and let the people decide their fate.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price No end to the violence On February 14, at least 41 Indian paramilitary police were killed in a suicide bombing near the capital of India-administered Kashmir. The Pakistan-based Jihadi group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility. The attack, the worst on Indian troops since the insurgency in Kashmir began in 1989, spiked tensions and triggered fears of an armed confrontation between the two nuclear-armed powers.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price A bitter conflict Since 1989, Muslim insurgents have been fighting Indian forces in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir - a region of 12 million people, about 70 percent of whom are Muslim. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price India strikes down a militant rebellion In October 2016, the Indian military has launched an offensive against armed rebels in Kashmir, surrounding at least 20 villages in Shopian district. New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing the militants, who cross over the Pakistani-Indian "Line of Control" and launch attacks on India's paramilitary forces.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price Death of a Kashmiri separatist The security situation in the Indian part of Kashmir deteriorated after the killing of Burhan Wani, a young separatist leader, in July 2016. Protests against Indian rule and clashes between separatists and soldiers have claimed hundreds of lives since then.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price The Uri attack In September 2016, Islamist militants killed at least 17 Indian soldiers and wounded 30 in India-administered Kashmir. The Indian army said the rebels had infiltrated the Indian part of Kashmir from Pakistan, with initial investigations suggesting that the militants belonged to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group, which has been active in Kashmir for over a decade.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price Rights violations Indian authorities banned a number of social media websites in Kashmir after video clips showing troops committing grave human rights violations went viral on the Internet. One such video that showed a Kashmiri protester tied to an Indian army jeep — apparently as a human shield — generated outrage on social media.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price Demilitarization of Kashmir Those in favor of an independent Kashmir want Pakistan and India to step aside and let the Kashmiri people decide their future. "It is time India and Pakistan announce the timetable for withdrawal of their forces from the portions they control and hold an internationally supervised referendum," Toqeer Gilani, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in Pakistani Kashmir, told DW.

India-Pakistan rivalry: Kashmiris pay a high price No chance for secession But most Kashmir observers don't see it happening in the near future. They say that while the Indian strategy to deal strictly with militants and separatists in Kashmir has partly worked out, sooner or later New Delhi will have to find a political solution to the crisis. Secession, they say, does not stand a chance. Author: Shamil Shams



The new deployment has stirred anxiety among residents that Indian security forces are planning another major crackdown and a curfew may be imposed. Residents in the region have reportedly stocked up on basic essentials and lined up at gas stations to fill their vehicles.

Regional leaders are also concerned that the military buildup, and rumors that more reinforcements will follow, presage a major announcement by the central government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in its election manifesto earlier this year vowed to amend the constitution to remove decades-old special rights for the people of the state.

This includes Article 35A, which prevents people from outside the state from buying property or claiming government jobs there.

sri,cw/aw (AFP, AP, Reuters)

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