F.P. Report
KARACHI: Chief Secretary of Sindh, Dr. Muhammad Sohail Rajput, stated that the province of Sindh is home to significant Hindu and Buddhist religious sites. Efforts are being made to preserve and safeguard these sites and identify more such places to attract tourists from Buddhist-majority countries to visit Pakistan.
He made these remarks while chairing an important meeting today at the Sindh Secretariat, focusing on the Gandhara civilization. The meeting was attended by Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, Chairman of the Gandhara Task Force, Secretary Hone Ajaz Ali Shah, Commissioner Karachi Muhammad Iqbal Memon, Additional IG Karachi Javed Alam Odho, Secretary Culture Abdul Aleem Lashari, Director-General Culture Sindh Manzoor Ahmed Khanasro, and all divisional commissioners who participated in the meeting via video link.
During the meeting, Secretary Culture Abdul Aleem Lashari briefed the attendees, stating that there are 369 cultural sites in Sindh, including temples and stupas of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, which still attract a significant number of visitors. Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Gandhara Task Force, highlighted that efforts would be made to preserve historical artifacts and heritage sites associated with the Gandhara civilization, as well as to discover additional locations to promote religious tourism within the country. This way, Pakistan will gain importance in the eyes of foreign tourists, especially Buddhists, and the country will reap economic benefits from this initiative.
He further mentioned that he has conducted tours of various cultural sites with foreign ambassadors in different regions of the country and will soon visit Gandhara civilization sites, including stupas and temples in various cities of Sindh.
Regarding tourism, the first three-day international conference is scheduled to be held from July 11 to 13, 2023, aimed at attracting tourists from around the world. Dr. Ramesh Kumar stated that the Task Force aims to bring up to 500,000 tourists to Pakistan, which will greatly benefit the country on a large scale.
The meeting concluded with a decision that the Culture Department would present a report to the Prime Minister’s Gandhara Task Force regarding the province’s religious sites, existing religious temples, and stupas. Afterward, the Task Force will undertake visits to these sites in collaboration with the ambassadors of various countries to promote tourism in the province.
