ISLAMABAD – The government has worked out a plan to develop a Buddhisttrail by exploring religious sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab toattract the followers of Buddhism religion from across the globe.This was disclosed by Chairman of Pakistan Tourism Development Cooperation(PTDC) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari while talking to APP.
The trail would start from Swabi and Swat, and culminate at Taxila, whichhad numerous Buddhist sites, he informed and added that the initiative wasbeing taken by the government as part of its plan to market religioustourism abroad.Likewise, sacred places of other religions, including Sikhism and Hinduismwere also scattered all over Pakistan and the PTDC was planning to providefacilities there to attract their followers not only from across thecountry but also from abroad, Zulfikar Bukhari said who also holds theportfolio of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis andHuman Resource Development.Such initiatives, he said, would help translate the vision of PrimeMinister Imran Khan regarding religious tourism into a reality byshowcasing non-Islamic heritage to the world. They would also project asoft pluralistic image of Pakistan internationally, he added.Zulfikar Bukhari also urged the foreign Buddhists to visit the country andhelp the government in preserving their cultural heritage.Highlighting the potential of the country’s tourism industry, he saidPakistan was blessed with diverse culture and enormously rich historicalheritage possessing the relics of famous civilization of Gandhara andIndus.The official sources in Directorate General Archeology, Punjab said some2,000 years ago, the Gandhara civilization entered in this region and thenspread along the valleys of Swat, Dir, Peshawer, Buner, Bajur, Takht-e-Bahiand Taxila.They said the intriguing record of Gandhara civilization was discovered bythe British excavators in 20th century who found ruins and relics of thiscivilization in huge quantity.The sources said the history also showed that the Buddhism traveled to theFar East Asia from this region.Annually, the country saw huge influx of religious tourists including Sikh,Hindu pilgrims and monks from different parts of the world, they added.
It may be mentioned here that the government was working on construction ofKartarpur Corridor from Indian border to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib inKartarpur in order to provide visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims.
