ISLAMABAD – The government was working to develop a Buddhist trail byexploring religious sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in order toattract the followers of Buddhism and monks from across the globe.
This was revealed by Zulfikar Bukhari, who has recently taken charge asChairman of Pakistan Tourism Development Cooperation (PTDC), while talkingto APP.
Bukhari, who was also Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on OverseasPakistanis and Human Resource Development, said the initiative was beingtaken by the government as part of its plan to market religious tourism byintroducing its rich Buddhist heritage to world. The trail would start fromSwabi and Swat, and culminate at Taxila, which had numerous Buddhist sites.
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, he added.
“We will start by focusing Buddhist sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa andgradually moves down to Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan where ancient sitesof various religions are located in a large number,” he said whilereiterating his government’s resolve to explore untapped tourism potential.
The Chairman PTDC also hinted at engaging foreign Buddhism followers toattract their investment for preserving their cultural heritage.
He said the students and academia would be engaged to formulate a policyand help the government promote tourism as a collective resolve and effortswere required for the purpose.
Such initiatives, he said, would help translate the vision of PrimeMinister Imran Khan regarding religious tourism into a reality.
Read Top Stories
They would also help government to demonstrate its interest in preservingand showcasing its non-Islamic heritage, besides projecting a softpluralistic image of Pakistan internationally, he added.
Zulfikar Bukhari said everyone in the country could practice his religionfreely as per the vision of Pakistan’s forefathers and that of the primeminister, who was a strong proponent to make the country a welfare state onthe pattern of Sate of Madina.
He said the tourism was contributing around 10 per cent in Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) globally but unfortunately, in Pakistan, only 2.9 percent wasthe contribution of this highly profitable industry in national economy.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, the PTDC aimedto make it 10 per cent of GDP which would help the industry to add over 20billion rupee in the national kitty.
It may be mentioned here that various areas in Pakistan like Taxila ,Takht-i- Bhai, Mardan, Peshawar and Lahore are home to some of the rarestBhuddist relics.
Pakistan has been the cradle of Buddhist art and culture since timeimmemorial.The Gandhara civilization flourished in the North Western regionof Pakistan from the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD.
