UK
advises against India travel
Sandesh Prabhudesai
8 October 2002
The British government
has strongly advised against travel to Jammu &
Kashmir, Manipur, Tripura as well border areas
of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab.
While cautioning Britons against
several other states of India due to communal
violence, Cauvery dispute and such other issues,
Amritsar, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner or
Jaisalmer as well as Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram
and Sikkim are considered to be safe.
The Travel Advise in this regard
has come from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
(FCO), the British Government department responsible
for foreign affairs through its headquarters in
London and embassies, high commissions and consulates
throughout the world.
An official protest against 'wrong
advise' has already come from the Goa government
as the FCO has cautioned the Britons not to walk
alone in isolated places in popular tourist areas
after dark, fearing sexual assault against women.
The British women are also advised
to respect local codes of dress and behaviour.
Half-nude (or sometimes even nude) foreigners
swimming or sunbathing against official warning
is a common scene on Goan beaches.
The advisory on India lists out
several details on safety and security, terrorism,
criminal activities, strikes and mass unrest,
poor driving standards and even health precautions.
These are also listed out on the FCO website http://www.fco.gov.uk.
Giving top priority to the Indo-Pak
conflict in the advisory in terms of safety and
security, the FCO states, "were a conflict
to start, our capacity to evacuate British nationals
would be limited".
Though militant attacks are not
directed against tourists, the advisory points
out at several violent attacks occurred recently
in public places. Recalling the incident of militants
taking five foreign nationals including two Britons
hostage in July 1995, the FCO states the risk
of kidnapping still exists.
In fact British visitors are advised
not to follow advice of any travel agent if they
try to convince that it is safe to travel to Jammu
or Kashmir, in spite of increased official promotion
of Kashmir as a tourist centre.
Following the recent terrorist attack
on a temple at Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the British
government predicts "there is a risk of heightened
tension in Gujarat over the coming days".
The situation in Gujarat also remains volatile,
it states, due to communal violence.
While requesting British nationals
to exercise caution in Islamic countries, the
FCO states "India is one of a number of countries
where there is an increased risk to visibly British
institutions and organisations from global terrorism".
Travellers visiting Mysore and Bangalore
are also cautioned about prevailing tension due
to water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,
leading to farmers' protests and frequent road
and rail disruptions.
Besides this, Britons are also cautioned
about attacks on trekkers in the mountains of
Himachal, bomb explosions and petty crimes in
Delhi, violent crimes in rural Bihar, landmine
explosions in Andhra Pradesh, early-hour armed
robberies in Mumbai etc.
The FCO advisory also cautions not
to carry drugs, stating that even small amount
of narcotic substance penalises a person for 10-year
imprisonment, besides pre-trial detention due
to slow judicial process.
Protesting against projection of
Goa as unsafe place for women, chief minister
Manohar Parrikar has flayed it, stating that there
are more rape cases taking places in the UK than
in Goa. Half of the 15 rape cases taken places
in Goa in last 10 years are a result of foreign
women initially developing relation with the locals
and then shouting of rape, he adds.
Goa is one of the safest destinations
for anybody in the world, he claims, alleging
further that such propaganda is the work of vested
interests that want to divert European tourists
from Goa. The tiny coastal state gets almost one
lakh tourists every year, from the UK alone.
