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Lahore
BY SAMIULLAH RANDHAWA

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 For-
man 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.

Source:Pakistan Today, MARCH 11, 2017

Two-day ‘Punjab Peace and Cultural Festival’
concludes

Lahore

The two-day “Punjab Peace and Cultural Festival” concluded on Sunday in Lahore which
attracted citizens from all parts of the society who were enthralled by the performances
given during the event.

The event, organised by the Punjabi Parchar witnessed a huge participation of people from
all walks of life. The final day of the cultural event was inaugurated by Punjab Institute of
Language and Culture Director Sughra Sadaf on Sunday at Punjabi Complex.

On the second day, notable speakers and participants gracing the event stressed the need
for harmony among the masses, tied together in the Punjabi culture.

Locals and culture campaigners lauded the performers who mesmerised the audience with
“Dhamal”, “Jhoomer”, comedy skits and folk music. Students of Aspire Group of Colleges
welcomed the attendees through Punjab’s quintessential “bhangra” while chanting “Jee
aaya nu”; later, singer Saad Farooq Ziai cast a spell on the audience with his songs.

Sangat group, which enjoys an excellent reputation for upholding the mantle of Punjabi
culture, also entertained the audience through theatrical performance “Ani Channi Di Tikki”.

The concluding day of the festival also involved of performances of comedians Iftikhar
Thakur and Saleem Albela who, with an exchange of witty remarks, left the crowd in fits
of laughter.

Folk performances by Sain Ejaz, and Jhoomer performance by a team from Mandi Bahaud
Din captivated the audience. The audience also appreciated folk songs by Afzal Jutt
whereas Ajoka Theater’s “Anni Mai Da Sufna” also received much admiration.

The festival’s literary session had a panel with Shahid Nadeem, Rashid Mehmood, Huma
Safdar, Aamir Riaz and Adil Aziz on board which highlighted the importance of Punjabi
culture regarding the topic “Theater and Culture”.

In another session, columnists Munno Bhai, Parveen Malik, Afzal Sahir, Rana Ehtesham
Rabbani and Farhad Iqbal expressed their viewpoint on “Language and Culture”. The
speakers unanimously opined that culture was a source of entertainment on one hand,
whereas it also served as a tool to highlight the positive and negative aspects of the
society. “Through culture, the message of peace and brotherhood can be spread across
the world,” they agreed.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Shafqat Mehmood also joined the second day
of the event and lauded the efforts of Punjabi Parchar for organising the festival. He
expressed that such festivals proved to be the best service for citizens amid hostile
environment. “Societies linked to their culture and traditions can retain their identity in
this current era of competition,” said Shafqat Mehmood. On the occasion, the event’s
chief organiser and Punjabi Parchar President Ahmad Raza affirmed that for the promotion
of a peaceful culture of Punjab, his organisation would arrange such events annually.

The cultural festival not only attracted residents of Lahore but people from Sindh,
Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan also joined the event highlighting
the message of peace in Pakistan’s most populous province.

Source:Pakistan Today, MARCH 12, 2017