Preserving local cultures, promotion of harmony needed: Speakers
Seminar, cultural show held to depict G-B’s strengths and threats to culture.
The festival featured local dances of the Gilgit-Balistan region. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Speakers at a seminar in Islamabad on Saturday stressed the need for the promotion of mother tongues, protection of local culture, exploring kinship mechanisms and educating the youth against religious hatred to promote peace and harmony in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).
The seminar was part of the Pamiri Arts & Cultural Festival 2013.
The two-day festival has been organised by the Initiative for Promotion of Pamiri Arts and Culture (IPPAC) in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), and is being held at the National Art Gallery auditorium.
The IPPAC is an organisation formed by young artists, musicians and poets from the Pamir community and other parts of G-B.
Daulat Wali Baig, the director of IPPAC, said the organisation’s main objective is to promote the cultural diversity of Gilgit-Baltistan through arts.
“Peace and love for humanity can best be strengthened through the fine arts,” Baig said. “IPPAC aims to protect and promote the region’s arts and culture, which are struggling for survival today.”
The festival in the federal capital is IPPAC’s first attempt to achieve this objective.
At the seminar, Aziz Ali Daad, a social scientist, said the G-B region has seen a dramatic shift in identity in the recent past.
“The basis of identity has shifted from culture to religion,” Daad said.
Gilgit-Baltistan is one of the most culturally diverse areas of Pakistan. It is home to over ten languages, and the different communities share similarities in their traditional folk music, literature, poetry and dances.
However, while the region has historically accommodated its diversity, it has been plagued by sectarian violence in recent times.
Agha Sattar, a journalist, who also spoke at the seminar, said Pakistan needs educational institutions that teach children to condemn bigotry and denounce discrimination.
“We need to integrate people to counter the disintegration caused by the belief systems,” said Fazal Amin Beg, a doctoral student of anthropology at Quaid-i-Azam University.
“Kinship can also be used as a tool for peace and harmony,” Beg added. “It is an aspect that must be explored.”
Saadia Danish, G-B’s minister for women, sports, culture and tourism, was chief guest at the festival’s opening ceremony. Danish saluted the women of G-B for participating in all fields of life. She also credited the men of G-B for supporting women’s empowerment and education for girls.
“Our (G-B’s) society might be conservative in some aspects, but I have not seen people more committed to getting their daughters educated than in G-B,” Danish said.
She announced an award of Rs50,000 for IPPAC to support the organisation’s efforts.
The Pamiri people mostly reside in the Gojal region of Gilgit-Baltistan and speak the Wakhi language. Pamiris are also spread across the border in the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan, Xinjiang province in China, and Badakshan province in Afghanistan, according to Baig Ali Toojik, a member of the community who attended the festival.
Earlier, the festival opened with a Pamiri welcome song, “Sho mubarak bod.” The audience applauded heartily when the lyrics broke into a traditional slow, rhythmic dance towards the end of the song.
Qurban Karim and Khayal Baig sang a traditional folk song for the guest of honour. They were supported by musicians on darbuka and rubab.
The festival will continue on Sunday with a culture show in the afternoon.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2013.
Speakers at a seminar in Islamabad on Saturday stressed the need for the promotion of mother tongues, protection of local culture, exploring kinship mechanisms and educating the youth against religious hatred to promote peace and harmony in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).
The seminar was part of the Pamiri Arts & Cultural Festival 2013.
The two-day festival has been organised by the Initiative for Promotion of Pamiri Arts and Culture (IPPAC) in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), and is being held at the National Art Gallery auditorium.
The IPPAC is an organisation formed by young artists, musicians and poets from the Pamir community and other parts of G-B.
Daulat Wali Baig, the director of IPPAC, said the organisation’s main objective is to promote the cultural diversity of Gilgit-Baltistan through arts.
“Peace and love for humanity can best be strengthened through the fine arts,” Baig said. “IPPAC aims to protect and promote the region’s arts and culture, which are struggling for survival today.”
The festival in the federal capital is IPPAC’s first attempt to achieve this objective.
At the seminar, Aziz Ali Daad, a social scientist, said the G-B region has seen a dramatic shift in identity in the recent past.
“The basis of identity has shifted from culture to religion,” Daad said.
Gilgit-Baltistan is one of the most culturally diverse areas of Pakistan. It is home to over ten languages, and the different communities share similarities in their traditional folk music, literature, poetry and dances.
However, while the region has historically accommodated its diversity, it has been plagued by sectarian violence in recent times.
Agha Sattar, a journalist, who also spoke at the seminar, said Pakistan needs educational institutions that teach children to condemn bigotry and denounce discrimination.
“We need to integrate people to counter the disintegration caused by the belief systems,” said Fazal Amin Beg, a doctoral student of anthropology at Quaid-i-Azam University.
“Kinship can also be used as a tool for peace and harmony,” Beg added. “It is an aspect that must be explored.”
Saadia Danish, G-B’s minister for women, sports, culture and tourism, was chief guest at the festival’s opening ceremony. Danish saluted the women of G-B for participating in all fields of life. She also credited the men of G-B for supporting women’s empowerment and education for girls.
“Our (G-B’s) society might be conservative in some aspects, but I have not seen people more committed to getting their daughters educated than in G-B,” Danish said.
She announced an award of Rs50,000 for IPPAC to support the organisation’s efforts.
The Pamiri people mostly reside in the Gojal region of Gilgit-Baltistan and speak the Wakhi language. Pamiris are also spread across the border in the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan, Xinjiang province in China, and Badakshan province in Afghanistan, according to Baig Ali Toojik, a member of the community who attended the festival.
Earlier, the festival opened with a Pamiri welcome song, “Sho mubarak bod.” The audience applauded heartily when the lyrics broke into a traditional slow, rhythmic dance towards the end of the song.
Qurban Karim and Khayal Baig sang a traditional folk song for the guest of honour. They were supported by musicians on darbuka and rubab.
The festival will continue on Sunday with a culture show in the afternoon.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2013.