Jammu & Kashmir CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed wants 'ghar vapsi' of Bollywood to Valley for boost to tourism

NEW DELHI: With an aim of boosting tourism in the state, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today asked Bollywood to do 'ghar vapsi' (return) to the valley as he talked about various measures, including holding of a corporates' meet on the lines of Davos.

He told tour operators here that perception about the situation in Kashmir needs to be changed and asked them to visit the valley to see the condition themselves rather than falling prey to an impression created by TV news channels.

"Perception matters and it needs to be changed," he said. Sayeed said a number of measures were proposed for encouraging tourism, which include flying of chartered planes by the state government and throwing open his own official residence for 'destination wedding'.

As part of the initiatives, he spoke about holding an 'Indian Davos' for natioal corporates at Gulmarg, 48 KMs from Srinagar city.

"I am not holding a business meet akin to that held in Davos ( Switzerland) but I can always bring my Indian corporates there sometime next year and hope Prime Minister and Finance Minister will also attend," Sayeed said.

Inviting film makers to shoot movies in the Valley again, the Chief Minister said "I want 'ghar vapsi' (return home) of all my Bollywood people to the Kashmir Valley."

He recalled that when he was the Chief Minister earlier between 2002 and 2005 he had met late Yash Chopra. "It took six years for his perception to be changed and he shot his film there," he added.

"Similarly, when I was in Mumbai recently, I met many film stars including Shahrukh Khan and asked him to come. Salman Khan is there. I am hopeful that this perception changes. It takes long to change people's perception. What my government intends to do is to change it," he said.

The Chief Minister supported the idea of his Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, who had said in his speech before him, that the state government will be flying chartered planes with a fixed price of about Rs 5,000 so that prices of other airlines are under check.

The Chief Minister said his official residence ' Hari Nivas' will be used for organising destination wedding. "The state government will outsource it and people can avail of this opportunity."