The eighth Sindhu Darshan festival, scheduled for next fortnight (June 17-18), will reinforce its charter and character — by making it less ‘‘Hindu’’ and stressing instead on the concept of ‘‘national integration’’. The festival, which aims at projecting the Sindhu or Indus river as a symbol of multi-dimensional cultural identity, communal harmony and peaceful co-existence in India, had allegedly turned into a Hindutva theme park.Minister of State for Tourism Renuka Choudhury said the festival will not be struck off the cultural calendar but will continue in its true form. ‘‘We had some adverse reports on how this festival was conducted. We will use this festival to promote Ladakh as a fabulous destination, showcase its unique culture and people and bring in the concept of national integration.,’’ she said.The festival, launched in 1997, and perhaps the BJP-led NDA government’s first offering to the cultural festival calendar, was believed by most to be another attempt to boost the BJP’s pet ‘‘Hindutva project’’. And the state guests included Kanchi Shankaracharya and Uma Bharati, the latter even attempted to rouse the patriotic spirit of the gathering, raising slogans like,, ‘‘vande mataram likhwa denge Jinnah ki mazaar per’’.Choudhury is keen to change all this and her focus is to bring the splendid Ladakhi culture to the rest of India. On the cards are cultural groups from various states, a line-up of personalities from various fields — youth icons to super stars and hoteliers and tour operators. ‘‘The festival will become part of our ‘Incredible India’ campaign, and it is time people discovered the uniqueness and majesty of this Himalayan state.’’
