Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 25: A 6-day long Jammu Festival -2013 was inaugurated by N.N. Vohra, Governor at General Zorawar Singh Auditorium in Jammu University. Usha Vohra, the First Lady was also present on the occasion.
The Governor complimented Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Minister for Tourism for taking the initiative of reviving the Jammu Festival after a gap of 6 years. The Governor hoped that people of Jammu would enjoy all the programmes in the next 5 days and the Festival would be a memorable experience for them.
Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Minister for Tourism said that the objective of organizing this Festival is to attract a large number of tourists to Jammu and Kashmir and to present our rich art, culture and the scenic beauty of the State. He said that about 1.05 crore pilgrims perform darshan at the shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Katra annually and if even one half of the pilgrims could be attracted to stay on and visit the tourist spots of Patnitop, Mansar-Surinsar, Rajouri- Poonch, Bani- Basohli, Bhaderwah and other scenic spots the economy of the State would receive a big boost.
He appealed to the private sector to participate in the infrastructure building in tourism sector and provide quality services to the tourists.
Soujanya Sharma, Director, Tourism, Jammu presented the welcome address on the occasion.
Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, recipient of Padam Vibhushan made a scintillating one and a half hour presentation. His presentation was heard with pin drop silence by a very large audience.
Chaman Lal Gupta, Legislator, Shantmanu, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Navin K Choudhary, Principal Secretary to the Governor and Zaffar Ahmad, Secretary Tourism were present on the occasion.
Later, while interacting with media persons, Santoor Maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma said the people of Jammu must speak in Dogri for its promotion across the country and the globe.
“Dogras must promote their mother tongue by speaking Dogri wherever they go”, he said.
The Maestro said people from the region, wherever they live or stay, should remain in touch with their roots and keep their culture, language and traditions alive.
“Though English is dominated across the world but, the Dogras should speak their mother tongue whenever they meet each other in any part of the world”, he added.
While speaking about the importance of festivals like Jammu Festival, he said, “Jammu has produced great legends like Ustad Alla Rakha Khan and when such events are being organised and we are invited to perform, it always inspires youngsters”.
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