Sindh Culture and Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah and noted writer Noorul Huda Shah on Saturday stressed that Sufi thoughts and their universal tolerant values should be promoted as the strongest cultural narrative against the extremist ideology.
They were addressing the 10th Karachi Literature Festival’s (KLF) session titled ‘Cultural Activism to Counter Extremism in Sindh’, in which they discussed the literary and cultural traditions of the province.
They also recommended that Sufi cultural heritage should be promoted to counter extremist and intolerant tendencies in society and to create interfaith harmony and pluralism.
Syed Sardar said the Sindhi society has been peaceful from the very beginning and there have been no signs of violence or extremism in it.
“The remains of the Indus civilisation show no clear signs of weapons; they show that there were no wars. Also, there were no mansions, so it shows that the society was based on equality.”
He said the Sindh government is including music as a compulsory subject in the curricula and for this purpose around 300 music teachers will be recruited. He also said that people gather at festivals and fairs in large numbers and that through organising such events, extremism and intolerance can be countered in the region.
“We had devised a plan to promote cultural activities across the province by organising festivals, book fairs and other such events; but because of not receiving funds from the federal government, we could not implement it.”
Noorul Huda said that since Partition, Sindh has been used for hate purposes and that to eliminate hatred from the region, urban and rural people of the province should jointly combat it to promote tolerance.
She said that Islam existed in Sindh and that Sindhis and Arabs had good ties even before the arrival of Muhammad bin Qasim in the region. She also highlighted different aspects of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s poetry and his influence on people, saying that his poetry contained a universal message of peace.
Jami Chandio, a political analyst who heads the Hyderabad-based Centre for Peace & Civil Society think tank, could not attend the session, which was moderated by Izhar Soomro.
Restoring city’s glory
Metropolitan Commissioner Syed Saif Ur Rehman said that the anti-encroachment drive under way across Karachi is vital to restore the glory of the city.
He was addressing a session titled ‘The Karachi Dilemma: Conservation or Evolution?’, in which the speakers discussed the campaign against encroachments and urban planning issues.
Noted writer Rumana Husain moderated the session, while the panellists comprised Rehman, architect and heritage consultant Marvi Mazhar, novelist Maniza Naqvi and K-Electric official Amer Zia.
The metropolitan commissioner stressed reconciliation among the various government bodies working for Karachi so that a comprehensive policy can be devised for the city’s development. “The city needs some out-of-the-box arrangements and solutions,” he suggested. “Karachi is being managed like smaller cities such as Sialkot or Faisalabad. This practice should be stopped.”
He said that there should be a time-bound master plan for Karachi and that the government should not allow encroachers to occupy the footpaths, parks and playgrounds. “These spaces should be open for all,” he added. He also stressed that parks of informal settlements should be adopted.
Marvi said that the anti-encroachment drive has become a mess because of a lack of proper administration. “There is no coordination between the government’s various layers — such as district, city and province — and it is a real dilemma.”
She also said that in immigrant cities like Karachi, ownership is a major issue. Agreeing with her, Maniza also pointed out that the dysfunctional political system has been creating issues in the city.