A group of about 50 schoolchildren belonging to the marginalised communities of Sindh, Balochistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) visited Lok Virsa National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting at Shakarparian. The visit was coordinated by a non-government organisation, Children’s Global Network (CGN).
The children were briefed on the cultural heritage of the country with special focus on the objectives of Lok Virsa. Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javaid said that Lok Virsa, under directions from the federal minister for information and broadcasting, was in consultation with the educational institutions to harness the youth with culture to inculcate awareness in them about the indigenous folklore, oral traditions, local craft and cultural heritage.
The Heritage Museum was being converted into a cultural university for the promotion of Pakistan’s magnificent heritage, he said.
Khalid said, “Children need exposure to the world outside their immediate and local environs. Lack of opportunities and remoteness prevent children from stepping out of their local environs and see the world around, watch a live performance of music, meet artists, witness traditional craftsmen at work and know different people of their own land. There is a harmful disconnect from the social and cultural reality that can result in adults who may not possess a true relationship with their society and may not have any realistic appreciation of its values.” Lok Virsa was making every possible effort to ensure documentation, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage at grassroots through various initiatives, he maintained.
Later the children were taken to the cultural displays supported by audio-visual presentation at the Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology, popularly known as Heritage Museum, depicting living cultural traditions and lifestyles of the people of Pakistan in a three-dimensional way.
The children said that they were impressed to see artefacts and other ethnological collections at the museum. They appreciated the ‘hall of antiquity and continuity’, displaying living elements of various civilisations that flourished from Pakistan including Mehargarh, Moenjodaro, Gandhara and Harrappa, ‘hall of musical heritage’, showing Muslims’ contributions towards promotion of musical heritage, snake charmers (joggis) sitting in a typical traditional Sindhi hut, and the ‘hall of ballads and romances’, presenting the four famous love stories – Heer Ranjha from Punjab, Adam Durkhaney from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dhola Maru from Sindh and Hani Shah Mureed from Balochistan. The children were also taken to the heritage library of Lok Virsa, which houses numerous manuscripts, original reports, field surveys and research monographs on the Pakistani culture.
Representatives of CGN appreciated the national services of Lok Virsa in the promotion of Pakistan’s tangible and intangible heritage. One of the visiting students from FATA, Hadi, said, “We have not seen such a beautiful display of arts, crafts and music before. Even most of the students among us are visiting Islamabad for the first time.”
