Govt, organisations join hands to revive KP’s cultural heritage

 Activities launched under RICH Project

PESHAWAR:  The Culture Department of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government has joined hands with local organisations and launched a number of activities to revive the indigenous cultural heritage.

A number of literary and cultural activities have been launched under the project titled “Revival of Indigenous Cultural Heritage (RICH)”.  The project is being implemented in partnership with the organisations excelling in the field.

A literary, cultural and social welfare organization, Gandhara Hindko Board (GHB), arranged a Hindko poetry recital session under the RICH project at Bazaar-e-Kalaan, in the heart of the city. The activity received an encouraging response. A total of 20 poets and people from various walks of life attended the session, arranged near the 116-year-old Cunningham Clock Tower or Ghanta Ghar, in the old quarters of the city.

A senior Hindko poet, Khwaja Yaqoob Akhtar, presided over the programme.  A broadcaster, Ahmad Nadeem Awan, who has a name in rendering Hindko sufi poetry, conducted the proceedings. A lyricist from Peshawar, Syed Saeed Gilani, was the chief guest. Guests of honour were Sajjad Babar and Nazir Bhatti.

The GHB representatives, including Vice-Chairman Dr Salah-ud-Din and General Secretary Muhammad Ziauddin, spoke on the occasion. They talked of the objectives of the literary function and the RICH Project.

They said poets were an asset to the society and poetry was an important part of the literature of any language. They said this mushaira (poetry recital session) had acquired an added importance as it had been arranged by the board in collaboration with the Culture Department of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The literati said the Directorate of Culture had selected GHB for the promotion of the Hindko literary and cultural activities under its newly launched RICH Project. Various literary and cultural activities would be conducted under the project, they added.

Dr Salah-ud-Din, who is a cultural activist, hoped the RICH Project would work as a catalyst in identifying and reviving the celebrations of the indigenous culture of the province.  “It will help document all human cultural assets and prepare a comprehensive online database available to researchers, scholars, policymakers and those who have an interest in culture of this region,” he added.

A Hindko writer, poet and research scholar, Muhammad Ziauddin, praised the Culture Department for launching the RICH Project. He explained that the project was being implemented in all districts of the province in collaboration with the district-based grassroots organisations, cultural operators, arts councils, culture and tourism support groups, artisans/craftsmen associations and civil society organisations which have considerable knowledge and skills about local cultures and heritage.

The speeches were followed by the poetry session which was well-received. All the poets were awarded certificates to acknowledge their participation in the function.