Pakistan signs Unesco ICH list ‘Nowruz’

Islamabad
Pakistan, along with eleven other countries, has signed the Multi-National Nomination File of Unesco’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) ‘Nowruz.’
The countries include Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. A series of meetings from March 2 to 6, 2015 were organised to review, discuss and finalise the Nomination File in Tehran.
For Pakistan and Lok Virsa, this is a unique and historic achievement as this marks Pakistan’s grand entrance on international scene as one which aims to promote and bridge cultural diversity even beyond its borders.
The mandate of Lok Virsa encompasses research, documentation, communication, preservation and promotion of country’s intangible and tangible cultural heritage.
It was during the meeting of ‘The Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of the United Nations’, held between September 28 to October 2, 2009 in Abu Dhabi, that Nowruz was officially registered on the ‘Unesco List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’. The UN’s General Assembly in 2010 recognised the International Day of Nowruz, describing it as a spring festival of Persian origin which has been celebrated for over 3,000 years.
In Pakistan, Nowruz celebrating communities and areas include Balti, Shina, Burusho, Wakhi & Khowar (Gilgit-Baltistan), Chitral, Hangu and Peshawar (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Areas of Kurram Agency (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Hazara (Baluchistan), Shias (Kashmir), Shias (Multan-Punjab), Sindhi Shia Ismailis and Zorastrians or Parsis (Karachi-Sindh).
These communities celebrate Nowruz as an “Eid” i.e. special ceremonies and prayers are offered while sweets, fruits, perfumes, flowers usually mark the offerings of Nowruz followed by spell-bounding dance performances, songs, traditional games and dishes.
At the signing ceremony, Pakistan was represented by Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Mashhood Ahmad Mirza and Director, Lok Virsa Sajeela Naveed, who prepared the Nowruz Nomination File inclusive of detailed documentation work, photographs, videos and formulation of inventory of the element ‘Nowruz’. The inventory is now on display at Lok Virsa’s website (www.lokvirsa.org.pk).