The government will do everything to preserve Gandhara art and culture, said Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada.
He was addressing the opening ceremony of Gandahara Peace Festival at Sobia Mahal, Mera Bhagwal Bhara Kahu in the outskirts of the capital on Monday. The event was organized by Gandhara Art and Culture Association in collaboration with the City School System. There will a series of programmes to highlight the importance of Gandhara art and culture.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Gandhara Art and Culture Association Chairman Salim Saifullah Khan said Pakistan is the cradle of ancient civilisation and the most prominent among those is the Gandhara civilization.
“I personally belong to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is in fact the modern name of Gandhara,” he said.
He said, “I am proud of being Muslim and thankful to God for my birth in a Muslim family and country. Islam is the name of peace and it gives us the lesson of peace and harmony but un-fortunately we are labelled as terrorists. I hope, one day everyone will understand the lesson of Islam and the terrorism in the region will end and there will be prosperity and love everywhere in the area,” he added.
He said, “Our objective to organise this festival is to create awareness among Buddhist people and show the places where Mahayana Buddhism originated from. I as former minister, parliamentarian and the Gandhara Art and Culture Association chairman extend my invitation to Buddhist community to come and visit these places themselves.”
He welcomed all the guests in the opening ceremony and thanked everybody who helped in making this event a reality. He specially thanked City School Chairwoman Dr Farzana in collaboration with Amna Aurangzeb for her persistence hard work in making event possible. He also thanked Zahid Butt, the owner of form house.
The event was attended by Chinese, Japanese and European guests. They were welcomed by boys and girls in cultural dress. The crowd was mesmerism Cultural and peacock dance and live performance by renowned singer Anwar Rafi.
