Vast numbers of people flocked to the two-day Punjab Peace and Cultural Festival which kicked off here on Saturday. The event was organised by Punjabi Parchar, an organization working for the propagation of Punjabi language and culture.
Inaugurating the event at the Punjabi Complex, Provincial Minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that such festivals promote peace, harmony, and love among people. He added that peace-oriented festivals should be organised more frequently to resuscitate Punjab’s rich culture and provide people a means of appreciating it. “We need to revive Punjabi culture so that the next generation can inherit it,” he said.
Addressing the attendees, Punjabi Parchar Director Ahmad Raza Punjabi said: “We must be proud of our mother tongue,” adding that parents tend to speak in English with their children when in public whether they have a grip on it or not instead of giving importance to their mother tongue. He said that the smooth organization of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final in Lahore had sent the message to the world that Pakistan was a peaceful country and that its citizens loved such events.
Festivities were in full swing with the start of spring and people enthusiastically thronged to the Punjabi Complex to attend the cultural festival.
At the event, students of Punjab College presented a tableau one of the main symbols of Punjabi culture, the charkha, which was largely appreciated by the audience. Students of Forman Christian (FC) College and Lahore College University also put on a Punjabi play that highlighted the province’s culture.
Folk singers enthralled the audience by reciting Waris Shah’s Heer, leaving them spellbound. The voices included folk singers Nadeem Abbas Lonay Wala, Jassi Lylpuria, Ali Baksh, and others.
Dhamal, jhoomer and other Punjabi folk dances culture were also presented on the first day of the event. The poetry symposium resounded exceptionally well with the audience and the love-filled verses seemed to touch every heart.
A literary session on film and culture was also arranged in which speakers including Pervaiz Kaleem, Tahir Sarvar Mir, Pervaiz Rahi, drama and film writer Amir Raza, and Tahir Sarwar Mir expressed their views.
Another session had speakers including Jamil Ahmad Paul, Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Warriach, Saeed Bhutta, Sugra Sadaf, and Ajmal Jami speak regarding Pakistani languages, with PTI leader Mehmood ur Rasheed also in attendance. The participants were of the view that Punjabi had always spread the message of peace, adding that Punjabi saint-poets had spread tolerance through their poetry.
In order to combat terrorism and other contemporary issues, there is need to rejuvenate the link between people and their culture, the panelists said.
