Seventh Baloch Cultural Day to be marked on Feb 28

Day-long festivities will be held at the Arts Council, Karachi on February 28 to mark the seventh annual ‘Baloch Cultural Day’.

This was announced by programme organiser Owais Iqbal Baloch, Director, Times Productions, and co-director of Balochi TV channel, Vsh TV, while addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Monday afternoon.

Baloch said that the event promised to be an exciting music, art, and cultural festival.

“The initiative is aimed at uniting people on one platform where they can express themselves through different mediums such as art, music, theatre, and share the feelings of unity and love,” said Baloch.

The event would also feature a screening of Pakistan’s first-ever Balochi film, ‘Hammal-o-Mahganj’. This historic love story of Hani and Sheh Mureed will also be staged as a play in Urdu for the first time-ever.

It may be mentioned here that screening of the movie had been blocked for 40 years because, as Anwar Iqbal said, fears had been expressed by interested quarters that political implications would be read into the movie while others said that it was a misrepresentation of Baloch culture and values. 

Now after 40 years, he said, the movie was being screened after removal of many misgivings and recast in certain ways, Iqbal said.

The movie has been thoroughly researched by Manzar Imam who was also present at the press conference.

“Our Baloch artists and craftsmen will be exhibiting their wears and skills at the Arts Council’s Manzar Akbar Hall,” Baloch said.

Anwar Iqbal’s daughter, Zabahat Anwar, who was also present at the press conference, said, “The cultural festival is meant to provide a platform to all Baloch artistes, craftsmen, and artisans to demonstrate the Baloch way of life so that the non-Baloch segment of the country’s population may be able to get acquainted with the area’s rich heritage. We hope that such efforts will go a long way in removing misconceptions about the Baloch and the subsequent misunderstandings.”