Dark Tourism: Travel Destinations When Tragedy

Shoulder bag, cellphone map, then cut the ticket and go out to the unknown - who does not want to see the world like this? Imagine a destination to travel to, you might wander before your eyes at the Niagara Falls, Eiffel Tower or Egypt's Pyramid. You might want to visit St. Martin's Island or the Sazek Valley. From the tranquility of the quiet mountains to the vast seas, from the ancient city to the oligopoly of the countryside, the tourist areas are vast. Joy, the passion to know and the hobbies of tourism - all of these are tourism.

But what if that place of tourism is a place whose history is filled only with misery and misery?

But there is a kind of tourism industry that is based on the history of mourning and suffering. His name is Dark Tourism.

No, it's not black magic or anything like that. This is a much wider range and different

In 1996, John Lennon and Malcolm Foley, two faculty members of Glasgow Caledonian University, introduced the concept of Dark Tourism. According to their definition, traveling to places associated with disaster and tragedy is called Dark Tourism. People's curiosity and sightseeing of a place if they witnessed the horrors of the past are contained in Dark Tourism.

This could be a disaster or a natural disaster. Dark tourism abounds throughout the world.

This place could be a tsunami, tidal wave, earthquake-hit area. For example, Japan was devastated by the tsunami of 2011, or in Indonesia recently flooded. Many Dark Tourists help with relief at this time.

Dark tourism can be a major accident in the past, such as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster or the disaster.

But the Dark Tourism is most often where human cruelty is found. Wherever there is evidence of the ultimate inhumanity history of another class of people, dark tourism has great potential.

The Auschwitz camp in Poland, the Aokigahara Suicide Forest of Japan, the Memorial of the Rwanda genocide, the Hiroshima lost to the atomic bombs, and the ruins of Nagasaki, have witnessed a ground-breaking ground for each of the 9/11 attacks.

Dark tourism can be in a serial killer or a terrorist's one-time home. Interestingly, different types of museums or exhibitions are organized in different countries in order to attract dark tourism. The 'Museum of Death' in Los Angeles was founded to attract dark tourists. Many visitors came to the museum to learn about the crimes of different criminals of different times. There are numerous associations and online websites for promoting Dark Tourism.

In many cases, it is not only in the interest of dark tourism, but also that the museums that have been established to preserve history have become the subject of dark tourism. There are other occasions when, on a general trip, some may come to the Dark Tourist spot. For example - maybe someone has traveled to Japan, he got to visit Hiroshima or Nagasaki to find time!

There is a debate over the timing of the Dark Tourism spot. According to Lennon and Foley, the Dark Tourist site is only limited to recent events. And they set this deadline from the 1990. That is, no events prior to the twentieth century will be covered by Dark Tourism. However, many theorists oppose it, as there have been many tragedies before, which can still have consequences on people today. As an example, they mentioned the Pompeii tragedy. In the Italian city of Vesuvius, volcanic eruptions collapsed under ashes, killing thousands of people.

By Lennon-Foley's definition, Pompeii is not subjected to the Dark Tourism, but it is in no small part in horror. Again Vesuvius is not dead yet, this sleeping volcano can rise again at any time. So Pompeii can be included in the Dark Tourism.

Do you think Dark Tourism is something weird and strange? Interestingly, we have quite a few dark tourism spots in Bangladesh.

The 'War of Liberation War', built to preserve the history of the bloodthirsty liberation in Segunbagicha, is a spot on the Dark Tourism.

Apart from this, there are Rai Bazar Massacre, Mirpur Massacre, Mirpur Martyr Intellectual Cemetery etc. The tomb of the nation's father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the house in which he was brutally murdered at Dhanmondi 12 - all belong to the Dark Tourism.

The site of the devastating Rana Plaza, 2013, is also the site of Dark Tourism.

Little by little, we all attended Dark Tours.

However, the question of morality has been debated with Dark Tourism at various times.

According to some, promoting the tourism industry by capitalizing on human suffering is morally inappropriate. They think that Dark Tourism is founded on a lot of banned objects.

Again, according to another source, Dark Tourism is not a fault, but Dark Tourism is very important to know. According to researchers in this team, if a man does not know his history, he will never be able to correct his past mistakes. Dark tourism, in their view, is not merely influenced by curiosity or fascination with death. Dark tourism is more interested in knowing the history of tragedy or events.

Many may still think that it is reasonable to turn the history of others' grief into a hobby.

No matter how much time has passed, the history of pain is the history of pain, is it not?

But what sets us apart from all other creatures as human beings is our keen interest, curiosity. And not only if we are busy with the present, we need to look back to understand the future path. Forgetting the past can never constitute the future. Even as a nation, we will never understand the meaning of independence unless we know the history of our liberation war. And this is not just a matter of knowing, of feeling from the inside. During World War II, thousands of people gave up their last breath in the gas chamber of the Auschwitz camp - standing in front of the camp gate today, people will realize how terrifying, how poisonous.

Standing again at the Murambi Memorial, the massacre of the Tutsi massacre in Rwanda 1994 will see how despicable the people are, and how their Hutu neighbor killed millions of people just for the identity of Tutsi!

To learn from past mistakes, fatigue or pain, one must go to these places, knowing. However, visiting these destinations is not only limited to ticking your checklist, it is also important for tourist sensitivity.

The Dark Tourism spot is different from other tourist spots. These places bear the pain of the past, so the tourist must behave in such elegance. If someone sits in front of a grave row with a selfie stick to pick up their best profile picture - it would be very disgusting.

That is why you have to keep in mind your behavior while traveling to these places, so that your behavior should be taken care of by local people or those whose history does not hurt them.

Many people do not have the opportunity or ability to travel to different parts of the world, so those who have them should be compassionate while traveling.

Dark tourism or any kind of travel, as well as knowing about the place, people and history of the place, a kind of spiritual connection with the tourist is established. Tourists get the chance to think of themselves in the places of the town, thus getting out of the mentality of understanding others. People are generous, sympathetic.

At the end of the day, this is the key to your purpose behind these trips. Is it curious about death and grief? Interested in knowing history? Or the desire to be an 'exception' between friends?

Are you a Dark Tourist?

Regardless of your purpose, if your behavior shows proper respect and sensitivity when traveling, there will be no reason to dispute it.

Take these places in your own heart, not just with a camera, but a witness to the history of depression. When you return home, bring messages of peace, empathy and communalism. Only then will the world become a little bit more beautiful, more tolerant.

So start with yourself.

Recently Netflix has created a series of documentaries called 'Dark Tourist' about Dark Tourism. You can see the trailer of the episode aired by journalist David Farrier.

Post and image source : roar.media/bangla/main/travel/dark-tourism-trip-to-tragedy/

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