'Lambi hai gham ki shaam': Omar Abdullah turns to Faiz’s iconic Urdu verse of hope to draw tourists back to Kashmir

In Gulmarg, Abdullah quoted a couplet of Pakistani Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, ‘Dil na umeed to nahi, nakaam hi to hai, lambi hai gham ki shaam, magar shaam hi to hai,’ as he tried to explain why optimism is pivotal in adversity. For the last few days Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has taken on himself to lead a campaign for revival of tourism in the Valley, which was hit by the unprecedented terror attack in Pahalgam last month. On 28 May, Abdullah chaired a meeting of administrative secretaries and other top officials in Gulmarg health resort as part of his governmentís efforts to draw tourists back to Kashmir. A day before, he held a symbolic cabinet meeting in Pahalgam, the site of the April 22 terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The chief minister's visits have infused a new hope among stakeholders and increased the chances of a turnaround after the tourist season this year was washed out due to the terror attack. “Dil Na Umeed to Nahi” In Gulmarg, speaking with media on Wednesday, Abdullah quoted a couplet of Pakistani Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, “Dil na umeed to nahi, nakaam hi to hai, lambi hai gham ki shaam, magar shaam hi to hai,” as he tried to explain why optimism is pivotal in adversity. “These lines, which I also quoted at the recent NITI Aayog meeting, serve as a reminder that even in dark times, hope must prevail. What happened recently marks one of the most difficult phases in recent years, but we have endured worse over the past four decades and always found a way to bounce back,” Abdullah was quoted as saying by local newspaper Greater Kashmir.