Young Tribal Girl, Shabnam Bashir Explores Hidden Tourist Destinations In Kashmir Mountains
Bandipora: 24-year-old tribal girl, Shabnam Bashir(Gojer Chechi) , tourism researcher and a social activist from Quilmuqam village in north Kashmir’s Bandipora District, is on her toes to do everything she can, to inscribe these untrodden pastures on the tourism map.
As per the Kashmir News Hub(KNH) , Shabnam Bashir, not only promotes eco-tourism in the untrodden meadows of Nachini, Nagmarg, Dum-Ghali, Danna, kemsar, lashkoot and other forest glades of district Bandipora but, also is a champion of culture in the area.
Shabnam also written a debut book “Unexplored Kashmir”, the book is about unexplored tourist destinations of the Kashmir, after taking a tour by foot of around eight far-flung meadows of north Kashmir and scripting them in detail.
The main of compiling the book was to present a guide to the people of Kashmir about these unexplored areas so that adventure loving people are attracted to these places,she adds.
From being a pioneer of the “Ketsan Festival” to hosting the “Kashmir Off-road”, India’s premier off-road adventure group in the area, tribal Shabnam did what everyone is not able to coup with.
In a recent interview with Kashmir News Hub (KNH) , Shabnam said that i face several challenges/strokes past in life, i lost my brother in this juggernaut journey but i never looked back and focus on my aim of getting my vicinity a tourist hub which is known as remote village in Bandipora.
Shabnam recently leads the valley’s first tribal girls trekking group from Ketsan, Aloosa village to the glades of Nachini, Nagmarg, and attempted the impossible To boost the eco-tourism industry in the area and to oust the tribal girls from the spiral of silence they are dominated by.
Her Will Power and self Confidence made her think beyond her age and perhaps gender too in her rather conservative surroundings, where girls were meant to get married once they reached the age of 12.
With dreams unlimited she dared to dream for herself and her fellow villagers unlike other females of her age in her area she thought of creating a tourist hub in her village which is known as a remote area with hardly any tourist attraction.
Following the footsteps towards her goal and aim of getting recognition for her area which certainly won hearts and people started, her friend’s relatives and family started thinking on her lines too and supported her /Kashmir News Hub (KNH)
Mohsin Mushtaq, Contributed photos to this story, He is Pursuing Masters in Journalism at MERC department in University of Kashmir and can be reached at mmk224556@gmail.com
