KL NEWS NETWORK
SRINAGAR
Sixteen years after 1999 Kargil War, Kargil has forayed into tourism map by fast emerging as the “patriotic tourist destination” where people from all over India and even from foreign countries visit every year Kargil to “pay homage to the martyrs” and try to gain firsthand experience of the war sites of Zojjila, Drass, Tolloling, Tiger Hill, Kaksar etc. This was revealed in a function held at Kargil.
“On 6th of July during Kargil war Shaheed Sub Balbir Sijngh became the first martyr and to commemorate his sacrifice and the sacrifices of other Jawans of the regiment, Apati war memorial is established and inaugurated on 6th of July 2015,” the army said in a statement.
The statement said war memorials do help in boosting the tourism in this frontier district as every year on the eve of “Kargil vijay diwas and Kargil youma-e-fatahe, India army celebrate these days on large scale and tourist do enjoy these events and also pay homage.”
The function was attended by Ambassador Depak Vohra, the special advisor to PM Narendra Modi, who said that Government of India is keen in promoting tourism in this frontier district and within five years, the district will turn into a major tourist attraction of J&K state.
Acting chief executive councillor LAHDC Kargil Syed Abass Razvi, Ex CEC Kargil Kacho Ahmad Ali Khan, officers of the India army, police and local dignitaries and villagers paid “homage to the martyrs” by lying wreath at Apati War Memorial.
turning nature’s lap into war memorials has two disadvantage for the valley, one we are resisting the inflow of quality tourism coz no one actually wants stress and war kind on thing when holidaying and I have personally experienced from every side be it Uri, Gurez or Zoji-la , the whole stretch has been turned into war memorials giving haunting feel, this dents our tourism immediately. second is the changing demography of the state, any concrete thing constructed becomes a history after few decades and a place is recognized by such mile stones and after few centuries the place known for its arts, architecture and beauty will be all known for war memorials. had this been the case then kashmir has enough graves to turn the place into a one single graveyard. Administration must take note of this and places that tourists like to visit should not be used for creating war memorials.