The writer is a researcher at the Serve Foundation Pakistan
The advent of the 21st century sees us fighting a war against extremism, disease and a poor economy. Rarely do we come across any news that brings happiness or which tell us about events regarding social or cultural activities. A few days ago, I was really happy to come across news that the PPP Patron-in-Chief, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, had announced that the Sindh Cultural Festival will soon take place. Clearly, this is a good sign as people will have something to rejoice about.
These types of festivals aim to encourage the youth to look into their history and culture. In the wake of a number of challenges we are facing as a nation, cultural festivals like these will help us as a society to unite against several ills. The Sindh government and the PPP’s step is highly appreciable and other provincial governments should follow suit.
The schedule of the festival was announced by the authorities to last for two weeks and it is great news that its opening ceremony will take place at Mohenjo Daro. A festival at the decided site will be an unforgettable moment. Indeed, there will be celebrations on the remains of a 5,000-year-old, culturally rich civilisation, which is also one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation, not to mention one of the world’s earliest major urban settlements. Moreover, this will be an excellent opportunity for us to draw the world’s attention to our proud heritage. We must make it a point to protect historical sites and should also take individual measures to preserve them.
Sindh is a land of Sufi saints. It is great news that a Sufi Night will be a part of the festival in a bid to maintain the true spirit of this land. A message of love will be spread from Sindh to the whole world.
The Sindh Festival comes up with the aim of love, peace, brotherhood and prosperity. It will conclude at Keenjhar Lake, which is a famous as symbol of love and peace. Noori Jam Tamachi’s tomb on Keenjhar Lake will attract visitors from all over the world. Every day, hundreds of devotees visit the shrine. The closing ceremony at Keenjhar will bring this place on the world map of tourism.
Credit goes to Bilawal Bhuttto Zardari and his team for initiating such a project and promoting the culture of this land. The two-week long Sindh Festival is scheduled to start from February 1, with at least, 15 different cultural activities taking place all the way from Mohenjo Daro to Keenjhar Lake. I hope that Imran Khan, who claims to be the leader of youth, also takes such initiatives and devises a policy for the cultural promotion of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). K-P also has a rich culture and the world must be shown its peaceful traditions. Bilawal has invited all parties and their representatives, and especially the people from other provinces, to attend the festival and show solidarity for the sake of peace and prosperity of our beloved country.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 28th, 2014.
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I suprised to learn that the superman symbol is also sindhi. We should sue dc comics immediately!