CM Murad urges writers to purge society of intolerance

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday urged the writers and poets to purge the society of the plague of intolerance, extremism, and misplaced notions of self-righteousness which are eating into social fabric.

Speaking at 14th International Urdu Conference at Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi, Shah said that the incidents of Sialkot and Faisalabad have exposed that "the mind-set of our society has been infested with intolerance, extremism, and misplaced claims of self-righteousness. We have forgotten our values, respect for women and our guests."

Shah observed that satire has departed from the television screen and now politicians and journalists are seen openly insulting and fighting with each other on talk shows of news channels. "These kinds of programmes are also contributing in promoting intolerance and the belief that only I am right," he said.

"Our electronic media should start literary programmes so that people may have better choices," the chief executive of the Sindh province suggested.

Taking the opportunity of the podium at the literary moot, Shah shared his views for the dire need to "restructure our society so that incidents like Sialkot do not happen." The CM recalled that in the past our people used to read books and visit libraries to seek knowledge but now the habit of reading has totally vanished, and it has been replaced with interaction on social media.

"The books I have read in my life are still in my memory but the material I read on social media does not last long in the memory," he said and added, "we have to move forward to digital age in which we would have to digitize our best literature for the benefit of people."

Shah invited the arts council and its members to support him to establish and modernise libraries all over Sindh.

Shah lauded the efforts of President Arts Council Ahmed Shah and his team for promoting cultural activities in this city which has seen bloodshed, loot and plunder.

Sindh Culture and Eduaction Minister Syed Sardar Shah while addressing the conference floated an idea to declare Sindhi, Punjabi, Seraki, Balochi and Pashto as national languages. "Urdu is derived from all these original languages, so there is no harm in declaring the same as national languages," he said adding that a bill in this connection has also been submitted to Senate, which is yet to be passed.

Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi President Muhammad Ahmad Shah said: "Syed Sardar Ali Shah has proved by his every move that he is at the forefront of promoting his culture and civilization for the promotion of peace and harmony in the province."

When Urdu Conference was held for the first time 14 years ago, the situation was not conducive then and some sections did not want to hold such conferences. "Yes, they wanted our society to be devoid of civilisation, but we thwarted their intentions," he said.

The first day of the 14th International Urdu Conference held at Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi ended with a colorful classical dance and music programme by renowned classical dancers Shaima Syed and Zashane Malik.

The students of Arts Council Music Academy made the participants sway by singing poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2021.