Rang De Basanti actor Atul Kulkarni visited Pahalgam days after the Kashmir terror attack, urging Indians to not let fear stop them from visiting the region.
Sharing a photo of him sitting on a park bench in Pahalgam, Kulkarni encouraged people to visit Kashmir in large numbers and revive the region’s tourism.
“It is the virtue of Indians that their courage overpowers their fear, their love overpowers all hatred. So, let's all visit Kashmir. I have come and you must come too,” reads the actor’s caption on Instagram.
The 59-year-old actor also shared a video of him enjoying local delicacies in Kashmir.
Further, he posed for pictures with local residents.
On Sunday morning, Kulkarni shared a picture of a virtually empty Mumbai-Srinagar flight.
"Crew said these ran full. We need to fill them again," he wrote in a post on X, with hashtags such as 'Chalo Kashmir', 'Defeat Terror', 'Feet in Kashmir'.
Known for his roles in films like Hey Ram (2000), Rang De Basanti (2006), Natarang (2010) and Khufiya (2023), Kulkarni shared an Instagram Story in which he highlighted the shock and anguish of the locals over the terror attack.
“Pahalgam locals. They’re shocked and sad exactly like us all. But they’re hopeful that their streets will be buzzing again,” wrote Kulkarni in the caption of his post.
"The intention of the terror attack was to tell tourists not to come to Kashmir. If we cancel our plans to travel to Kashmir, we are in a way allowing the intentions of the terrorists to succeed," the actor told PTI.
He added that tourism was important for boosting the local economy. Kulkarni said he came across a group of tourists from Tamil Nadu in Pahalgam, who were keen to understand the Kashmiri way of life.
"Such people-to-people interaction will also help forge close bonds and also send a message of unity and compassion," he said.
As per news reports, hotels and houseboats in Kashmir have seen up to 80 per cent cancellations in tourist bookings in the immediate aftermath of the April 22 terror attack at Baisaran in Pahalgam.
