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Pre 1989, Kashmir was a Paradise in the true sense. Crime was unheard of, a single murder in a year would shake up the administration. Kashmir was very unlike Jammu were murders weren’t so uncommon. Gang wars did not exist in Kashmir, one would never see a drunk lying on a road. Women would return alone, as late as 2 in the night, from a marriage laden with jewellery, without fear. Pickpockets were unheard of. Tolerance has always been a virtue of Kashmiris. People who have been to Kashmir in the past will still recall the beauty of the place and the people. You must be wondering why am I talking about the past. Past is gone, over, done with! It is, to an extent, but not all of it. The conflict is a reality of Kashmir that was thrust upon them, not by the ‘neighbours’ but by the conditions. Let me not dwell into the politics and history of Kashmir. The conflict has not changed the basic behaviour of Kashmiris. The conflict has not changed the hospitality of Kashmiris. The conflict has not changed, to a large extent, the goodness of the people of Kashmir. Kashmir is thus largely safe for tourists. It is not, as might be wrongly presumed, the presence of the army that has made Kashmir safe. It is the presence of the people. I am not trying to glorify the people of Kashmir, I am just trying to put forward a basic trait of Kashmiris that has been, sadly, buried under the blanket of the term ‘terrorists’ – a gift of the Indian government and media to the people of Kashmir. Kashmiri and a Terrorists are synonymous terms in India. But Kashmiris are far from being terrorists.