SITARE ZAMIN PAR
Why are Bollywood stars coming to Kashmir?
A lot of Bollywood stars including Ameesha Patel, Arbaaz Khan, Vidya Balan, Vicky Kaushal, Sonal Chauhan along with many popular Kashmiri artists have recently visited Srinagar, Baramulla, Gulmarg and Uri. Some of them came to Kashmir for the first time and regretted for not coming to this ‘Paradise on Earth’ before. They even remarked that Jammu & Kashmir is much better than otherwise popular Switzerland. They were visibly awe-struck to see the beauty of Kashmir especially Gulmarg. Most of them made a commitment to return back to Jammu & Kashmir for their film projects.
But, why did they come to Jammu & Kashmir at the first place ? And, who brought them here ? Before dwelling into these questions, we must first answer that who gets benefitted by their arrival ? And, the simple answer to this is – a local Kashmiri. The arrival of these stars in every nook and corner of Jammu & Kashmir is bound to give a boost to the tourism industry in Jammu & Kashmir. This industry forms a substantial 7-8 % of the GDP of Jammu & Kashmir and directly effects the employment, income and sustained development of the local Kashmiris.
The tourism generated employment is broadly classified into three major heads. First, is direct employment which facilitates direct selling of goods and services by the hotels, restaurants and shops to the tourists. Second, is indirect employment which allows supply of goods, services to the tourism business. And, third, is the investment related employment in construction and other capital goods industries.
In 2018, Santek Consultants Private Limited, New Delhi in their report “20 years perspective plan for the sustainable development of tourism in the state of J&K” highlighted an upswing trend in generation of employment due to tourism in J & K since 2002. The direct employment benefits in 2020 was predicted to be about five times than those in 2002 and the indirect benefits in 2020 was to be more than three times than 2002. However, the same got marginally disrupted in 2020 due to COVID related restrictions.
The Government of India however, successfully managed the pandemic crisis with such efficiency that the adverse situation was controlled within few months. The tourism industry in Jammu & Kashmir started recovering. The Bollywood stars who have been coming to the region have therefore acted as catalysts to this re-emergence.
The month of Jan 21 alone witnessed 19,000 tourists in Srinagar. Even Dec 20, recorded the highest footfall of 13,237 tourists which is approx 40% of the total footfall in the entire year. If the rising trend continues then the local Kashmiris are bound to be benefitted substantially. The catalytic effect of presence of Bollywood stars on the tourism industry and a subsequent positive effect on the GDP of the UT of J&K explains why the stars were here. But, the second question still remains, who brought them here ?
These stars came to Kashmir on invitation of the Indian Army. Now, many would ask that why is Indian Army inviting these stars to Kashmir ? Isn’t there role limited to killing the terrorists exported by Pakistan? While this comes as the most obvious question into a common man’s mind, a more detailed understanding of Indian Army functionality would suggest that Indian Army not only puts ‘Dagger’ in enemy’s heart but is also a Humsayain the land of ‘Chinars’. Indian Army which is actively involved in ‘Nation Building’ activities understands that the Kashmiris and their development forms the building-blocks of a progressive, happy and developed Jammu & Kashmir. While taking steps in this direction, it also knows that Pakistan’s proxies need to be neutralized at all costs. Recently, Lt Gen BS Raju, General Officer Commanding of Chinar Corps remarked that the “the anti-terrorist grid is critical to all our actions to get J&K back to peace, stability and prosperity”. It clearly indicates that the Indian Army will do all that is needed to make Jammu & Kashmir a peaceful, stable and prosperous region of our country. Inviting Bollywood stars to boost the economy of Jammu & Kashmir is one such step.
In last few months, these Bollywood stars have graced multiple occasions starting from Jashn-e-Baramulla in Baramulla, Gulmarg Festival at Gulmarg and Umeed ki Seher at Uri. All these events not only attracted tourists but also gave an opportunity to the local Kashmiris to exhibit their talents. In view of the same, Maj Gen Virendra Vats, General Officer Commanding of Dagger Division during the Gulmarg Winter Festival remarked that “the event was organized to provide a platform to local artists to showcase their talent and to develop the tourism industry in Kashmir.” He added that “Indian Army is happy to support the endeavour”.
While Ameeshapatel was the guest in Jashn-e-Baramulla, Arbaaz Khan &VidyaBalan graced the Gulmarg Festival. Vicky Kaushal and SonalChauhan were guests at UmeedkiSeher. The locals were absolutely thrilled with the the presence of these celebrities among themselves. In fact, Vicky Kaushal rightly remarked that the actual celebrities are the people of Kashmir. He echoed the sentiments of Indian Government and Indian Army who consider the Kashmiris as their own and do get reciprocated in similar measures by all sections of the society in not only Jammu & Kashmir but also the UT of Ladakh.
This kind of support by the Kashmiri people is something which is not acceptable to Pakistan. Having failed time and again in confronting the Indian Army’s might, Pakistan continues to wage a proxy war against India including the people of UT of Jammu & Kashmir. But, the Kashmiri people have now understood the game-plan of Pakistan. They have therefore rejected the Pakistani propaganda based on religious extremism and consider themselves as true Indians who arke rearing to overtake other Indian states in all spheres including economics. The Government of India and Indian Army is committed to realize this ‘Kashmiri Dream’.
To this end, presence of Bollywood stars in Jammu & Kashmir is a welcome step as it will integrate the UT with the main drivers of ‘economic capital’ of the country – Mumbai. In fact, not only Bollywood actors but a lots of other producers, directors, singers, industrialists like Anil Ambani and many others from Mumbai visited Gulmarg and other parts of Kashmir in this winter season. The ‘Mumbaikars’ seems to have taken an edge over others to boost the tourism industry of Jammu & Kashmir. All this only adds to the overall wellbeing of the Kashmiris. Indian Army, on its part continues to directly and indirectly facilitate the development of ‘Awam’ while simultaneously ensuring that Pakistan’s nefarious designs are not manifested in the region. The latter hask only brought misery, poverty and under-development to the Kashmiris.
Lastly, if the people who matter and who can bring a change, continue to visit this ‘Paradise on Earth’, there is no doubt that the UT of Jammu & Kashmir will achieve what it desires. The Kashmiri people desire peace, prosperity, development, happiness, education, employment and longevity. Indian Army remains committed to facilitate realization of these desires. The Bollywood stars who recently came to meet Kashmiri people in Baramulla, Gulmarg and Uri wish the same– a ‘Kamayab Kashmir’. Insha’Allah!
