DHARAMSHALA,Febrauary15,2012: The devastating blast in the Israeli embassy car that rocked the country on Monday has brought the idyllic Dharamkot village near Mcleodganj under the police scanner. The reason: Dharamkot, popularly known as mini-Israel, is a top destination for Israeli tourists. Police sources here confirmed that after the news broke out about the blast in New Delhi, Kangra police chief issued advisories to the local police station and hoteliers in Mcleodganj. "There are not many Israelis these days but still we have issued instructions to the hoteliers that they should inform us about the Israelis staying in their hotels," said Diljeet Singh Thakur, SP Kangra.In addition, he said, vigil and patrolling had been increased in the areas where Israeli tourists generally stay.The Israelis used to visit the Dharamkot village in massive numbers prior to visa restriction.They would stay throughout the year in the village, in rented rooms of local houses under the home stay scheme. In the year 2010, about 20,000 Israelis visited Dharamkot. There are still wall writings in the Hebrew language on many buildings of the village. There is also a 'Chabad house' (Jewish community centre) that goes to show the strong presence of Israelis in the village. The village, it is said, belongs to the Gaddi tribe of Himachal. A good number of Israelis are married to the members of the tribe. But later the central government imposed restrictions on visa allegedly after it came to its notice that the Israeli youth were indulging in drugs.The government restricted the visa for Israeli tourists to just 3 months with a condition that the tourists, who visit the country on 3-month visa, could revisit India only after a gap of one year. Since then the village witnessed considerable downfall in Israeli tourists. Earlier, the Israeli tourists used to get tourist visa of at least 6 months and that visa could be extended for another six months from Nepal.
No comments:
Post a Comment