Veteran actor Atul Kulkarni visited Kashmir following the terror attack in Pahalgam and urged terrorists to witness the beauty of the region. He expressed deep sadness by the April 22 attack and the news that '90 per cent of tourist bookings' had been cancelled, he chose to personally visit Kashmir to show his support rather than commenting on the incident from Mumbai.
Speaking to ANI, Atul said, "What happened on the 22nd was a very tragic incident; this should not have happened. The entire country is deeply saddened. When I read about it, I was thinking that every time something like this happens, what do we do? We post on social media, we talk to friends, we write something, but then I thought, what can I actually do in real action?"
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He added, "That's when I remembered reading that 90% of the bookings here had been cancelled. So I felt--what message are they trying to send by doing this? They're basically saying, 'Don't come to Kashmir.' And the response we should give is, 'We will come. Kashmir is ours.' But I couldn't give that message while sitting in Mumbai. It was important that I come here myself."
Earlier today, Atul shared a series of pictures, documenting his journey from Mumbai to Srinagar, where he posted photos of empty flight seats and his boarding pass.
He wrote, "Mumbai to Srinagar. The crew says they were running full. We need to fill them up again. Chaliye ji, Kashmir chalein."
While he shared photos from the trip, the actor received severe backlash for enjoying in the face of crisis, which led him to disable the comments on social media.
On Tuesday, April 22, terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists in Pahalgam. The incident killed around 26 people.
