Restructuring of National Film Censor Board and demilitarisation of cultural and heritage related depts recommended
ISLAMABAD: Counter terrorism and culture experts have strongly emphasized the need for introducing a ‘Cultural National Action Plan’ to counter extremism and terrorism in the country.
“We should revive the cultural heritage, folk poetry, cultural monuments, public spaces inclusive of all the faiths to push back the monolithic militant view,” said Nadeem Omar Tarrar, Director National College of Arts, Rawalpindi while speaking at a closed door consultative conference here on Tuesday.
The conference titled “Cultural diversity and pluralistic co-existence”, the eighth in a series suggesting mechanism to counter violent extremism, was hosted by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think-tank, on Tuesday.
The experts unanimously agreed that one of the direct casualties of extremism in the country was its rich diversity, providing an enabling environment for pluralism that can fade out extremist voices. To do so, the government shall, on priority, approve culture policy upholding diversity and release “Cultural National Action Plan”, securing pluralistic spaces across the country.
The group also gave at length consideration on films. It was pointed out that presently Pakistani movies are not bringing f0rward free thoughts and not enriching new ideas which could actually attract the youth at large.
“There should be restructuring of National Film Censer Board at the federal level where intellectuals and free thinkers should be part of it instead of government functionaries and security officials,” the group unanimously called.
The group also emphasized the need for demilitarization of different cultural and heritage related departments.
“All the heritage sites should be demilitarized and they should be open to public for boosting tourism in the country,” said the participants of the meeting while giving their views.
The group called upon Parliament and provincial assemblies to initiate debates on to what extent, diversity got dissipated by policies aimed at shaping singular national identity in the past.
These policies failed to achieve the goal of social cohesion, a situation aggravated further by the wave of extremists, who, by their nature, are against pluralism. Today, cultural spaces upholding diversity have shrunk. Today is the need to reclaim those spaces, at both intellectual and physical realms. Only then can extremism be eliminated in the long run.
The group called for immediately approving the cultural policy at national and provincial levels. The policy, it was suggested, shall be reflective of universal human values, extracted from the international statutes Pakistan has signed upon. Decrying negative practices carried out in the garb of local cultures, the group suggested the approved cultural policy shall clearly spell out gender equality as its cardinal principle.
Members also called for charting Cultural National Action Plan, which facilitates celebrating cultural activities, inclusive of all faith and ethnicities. The approach of this plan shall be bottom-up; events shall be celebrated upon the recommendations of stakeholders from the ground all the way up to provinces, followed by the center, to accommodate diversity.
The group called for celebrating cultural events at all tiers; promoting unsung role models, such as activists who struggled for people’s rights, such as by bestowing awards to them; engaging culture-friendly professionals in institutions impacting cultural diversity; preserving folk culture and poetry; securing cultural heritage sites and monuments, inclusive of all faiths; providing for inclusive spaces; withhold the trend of unconditionally changing names of different sites. These measures, of protecting cultural diversity, will also boost tourism for the country.
Members of the group who attended the meeting included Fauzia Saeed, executive director, Lok Virsa; Nadeem Omar Tarrar, director, National College of Arts; Afrasiab Khattak, former senator; Irfan Ahmed Urfi, writer; Khurshid Nadeem, religious scholar; A.H. Nayyer, educationist; Dr. Qibla Ayyaz, former vice chancellor, Peshawar University; Saeeda Deip, peace activist; Mujtaba Rathore, development professional; Farzana Bari, gender activist; Rashad Bukhari, peace activist; Marvi Sirmed, human rights activist; Mukesh Kumar, TV producer; Akbar Notezai, journalist; Abdullah Dayo, peace-building professional; Bilal Ahmed, radio journalist, Saleem Shahid, senior journalist, and Muhammad Amir Rana, director, PIPS.
