Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Minister for Culture and Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the government will take guidance from prominent personalities who understood culture to promotion local culture and arts and preserve KP’s heritage. He was addressing the opening ceremony of the Cultural Directory and Afghan Cultural show at Nishtar Hall Peshawar on Thursday. The Cultural Directory opening ceremony was attended by prominent cultural personalities of KP, Secretary Culture Azmat Hanif Orakzai, Director Culture Pervez Khan, General Secretary ANP Tajuddin Khan, President Cultural Journalists Forum Ehtasham Toru and General Secretary Rokhan Yousafzai.
The cultural show was also attended by the Afghan Consul General Syed Muhammad Ibrahim Khel. Iftikhar welcomed the offer of those who promoted culture to assist in preserving KP’s cultural heritage. He said the launching of the cultural directory was a step in the right direction. He said local culture and art were a trust and must be transferred to each new generation. He said if KP’s arts and heritage had been preserved the menace of terrorism and extremism would not have risen. He said the cultural directory shall preserve the data of culture-related people in KP to allow them to better serve the province. Iftikhar said Afghanistan was a living example of an country whose archeology and cultural heritage was destroyed. Earlier, the District Coordinator was nominated for the data collection of the cultural related people to submit it to the culture department at the earliest. The cultural directory will be finalised within a month.