JI family festival entertains Islooites

Shunning the notion that Islam forbids recreational activities, political party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Sunday organised the day-long ‘Islamabad Family Festival 2011’ to provide healthy entertainment and enjoyment opportunities to the citizens of Islamabad, at Rose and Jasmine Garden, Aabpara.
The festival kicked off at 10:00 am and continued until evening and the families from Islamabad that participated were of the opinion that such a festival was a treat to attend that had a healing influence on familial relationships on one hand, and strengthened the ideology and culture of Pakistan, on the other.
Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Syed Munawwar Hassan was the chief guest on the occasion while JI Islamabad Amir and former Member of National Assembly (MNA) Mian Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Kashif Chaudhary, Mian Muhammad Ramzan, Hafiz Tanvir Ahmed, Noorul Bashar and hundreds of JI and Islami Jamiate Talaba, and Al-Khidmat Foundation workers graced the occasion.
Hundreds of male and female students in uniforms also participated in the activities including Naat and Qirat competitions, Urdu and English declamation contests on the subjects ‘Women are supposed to stay at home’ and ‘They never fail who die for a greater cause’, Kalame Iqbal competition, and a painting competition on the Kashmir issue. The poetry competition and quiz competition were especially popular with the students.
On the occasion, sports competitions of badminton, volleyball, and cricket were also held and these along with a 100 and 200 metre race, and tableau competitions also attracted the youth. Female participants also took part overwhelmingly in the Naat and Qirat, declamation speech, henna-applying, flower-making, sewing and stitching, cooking, peeling of vegetables, garnishing of salad, painting, tug-of-war, skipping rope, musical chairs, badminton, and calligraphy competitions as well as the race.
Quiz, essay-writing, poetry, model-making, tableau, sports, wall climbing, and poster designing competitions were also held amongst the children of aged 5 to 15 years. The striking feature of the festival, however, was the participation of old age citizens who enjoyed themselves taking part in a 100 metre race. People belonging to the minorities of the country were also invited to participate in the competitions. Older people also participated in the tug-of-war, poetry recitation, volleyball, and musical chairs contests.
Swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, and a jumping castle were also erected in the garden to attract children. As many as 70 stalls of handcrafted items, traditional cuisines, henna, bangles and flowers, magic and puppet shows, books, gift items and pony rides were also part of the festival. Women from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also set up arts and crafts stalls. The food stalls offered traditional and intercontinental cuisine. A few NGOs also set up stalls to promote awareness about the flood affectees.
At the end of the festival, the participants of the competitions were given shields and certificates. Addressing on the occasion, Hassan said that Islam did not prohibit such recreational activities as they strengthened family bonds and helped explore the hidden talent of youth in particular. “In this festival, we come to know how talented our youth is. Besides the youth, the elders’ participation in the competitions highlights the misconception that these activities are prohibited in Islam,” he said.
The JI Amir said that the family system given by Islam was the best family system, but human flaws prevented people from fulfilling their responsibilities under this system, sometimes due to hectic schedules. “Pakistan is facing many challenges, we have to pull our acts together to strengthen the family system and change society through our right to vote,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Mian Aslam said, “Today we have made all of Islamabad ‘a family’. Today when children, with their parents have overwhelmingly participated and shown that this city is not an entertainment-starved city. The youth of this country has immense potential and they demonstrated it in this festival, but it was the elders of city who performed like the youth today.” He said the festival was a family gala and if the family were present, a strong society could be made.
He said when people became individualist and self-centered, society started to get brittle. “We have to show the kind of unity that tackles corruption, and counters the United States’ interference in our affairs,” he said. Later Hassan said the chances of elections and a change of government were not rife. “Until Zardari holds the president’s office, there is going to be no chance of change in the power corridor.
Elections, it seems, will be held in time as the time of the mid-term polls is over,” Hassan said. The JI Amir said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had always indulged in allegations and power politics to destabilise the country. ‘This is not the first time in the history of Pakistan that allegations, politics, rallies, and protests are being organised as tactics. We have been struggling since the past 40 years voting for the PPP, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), and MQM but no positive change have we seen. This is a time to change, when we have to reject the corrupt politicians in the forthcoming election,” he said.
Jamal, a private company employee who came to the festival with his family said he had had a wonderful time. “I have rarely attended festivals like this. Separate arrangements for females and males was a good idea as women had not felt uncomfortable participating in a number of events. Also, there was proper check on rowdy boys who always spoil the events,” Jamal said.