Inaugurating the 64th convention of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) here this evening, the Chief Minister described tourism as the best means of people to people dialogue adding that every effort in this regard would be an investment in peace.
Mehbooba Mufti had asked the tourism fraternity of the country to come forward and help in further improving tourist footfall in the State which she said leads to enhanced people to people contact.
She said tourism helps build bridges among people which ultimately leads to minimizing alienation or misgivings about each other.
Appealing the members of country’s tourism industry to clear the negative perceptions about Jammu & Kashmir in their respective markets, Mehbooba Mufti said the State has gone through a phase of enormous violence during the last three decades or so for which people here need a healing touch which tourism sector alone can provide.
“Government alone cannot do that, you have to do a partnership with us,” she told the delegates.
The people here, the Chief Minister in her emotional appeal said, have been the victims of tough times of the past which bruised them immensely but have remained unmatched in their hospitality and warmth.
She said while the place may be called as the warmest place on earth (referring to a video recently shot) but it also dons the crown of being safest place for women. She appealed the delegates not to leave the strings of today’s bond midway and come next time with their families so that they themselves experience the warmth, hospitality and the situation of the State.
The Chief Minister said every region of the State offers unique attraction to tourists of every kind. She said she has asked the Department to devise packages for every segment-youth, old, newlywed, nature lovers, conservation activists, students of society so that its multidimensional facet is explored properly.
Mufti complimented the Tourism Department and tour and travel fraternity for working together to make the convention possible. She asked the delegates to roam around and check for themselves the veracity of reports as displayed by a section of electronic media about the State.
“Jammu and Kashmir is going through difficult times. It has affected tourism not only in Kashmir, but also in Jammu. If you look globally, there are problems everywhere. However, our problem is that the country has also left us alone,” the chief minister said.
“Our job is very tough. There are many ways to deal with the situation but we are using only one way, which is to fight the gun with a gun. The wounds inflicted in the process also need to be treated and if anyone can treat those wounds, it is the people of the country, it is you,” Mufti said.
The chief minister invoked her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who, she said, would always say that tourists visiting Kashmir were an investment in peace.
“My father would always say when a tourist visits us, it is an investment in peace. An Army jawan fights militancy and guards the border, that is one way of fighting. The other way is by addressing the alienation,” she said.
The chief minister said that Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of the country but in the past few years it has lost its sheen.
“We have natural beauty, cultural diversity and languages … not even the entire country has so much diversity as much exists here alone. This might be the reason that the almighty has kept us at the top, in the form of the crown,” she said.
The chief minister said the state was today going through difficult times and blamed the TV news channels for exaggerating the situation, which dissuades people from other parts of the country from visiting the state.
“TV news channels have created such a perception as if the entire Jammu and Kashmir is on fire. That is not the truth … I have no hesitation in saying that Kashmir is the safest place for women in the country,” she added.
On the occasion, the CM gave away awards to leaders in different segments of the industry in the country.
Other key speakers on the inaugural function included Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI and Aditya Gosh, President, Indigo Airlines.
It may be mentioned here that due to the persistent efforts of the Government to promote State’s tourism, travel and tourism fraternity across the country and outside got encouraged to hold their convention at Srinagar which they have been holding for the past ten years outside the country.
