Pashtun Culture Day marked with traditional music and dances

Beating dhols, playing flutes, and performing the traditional Pashtun dance Attanr, the Pashtun community of Karachi celebrated their annual culture day on Wednesday with enthusiasm.

To mark the day, the Pashtun community held rallies, staged a folk dance on Sea View and organised an event at the Arts Council of Pakistan.

Pashtun Culture Day is celebrated on September 23 every year since 2014. This day was designated for promoting Pashtun culture during a meeting of the Afghan Forum, a cross-border peace initiative, in Peshawar that year. Since then, every year, gatherings are held in various cities, particularly Peshawar, Quetta, Islamabad and Karachi, to mark the day.

On Wednesday, the Awami National Party and its student body, the Pashtun Students Federation, jointly organised an event at the Arts Council of Pakistan where party leaders, including provincial president Shahi Syed, Balochistan Assembly MPA Engineer Zamrak Achakzai and senior journalist Ajmal Khattak Kashar, spoke about the Pashtun culture.

They said that the objective of celebrating Pashtun Culture Day was to make their students aware of the rich Pashtun culture and traditions, and promote unity.

“Every day used to be a Pakhtun cultural day because Pakhtuns practiced their values round the year,” Syed said. He stressed that it was necessary to show the world that Pashtuns were peaceful people with a vibrant culture and traditions.

Participants performed Attanr, a Pashtun dance, in which many were seen clad in traditional Pashtun dresses. Attanr is a famous Pashtun community dance performed to a heavy drumbeat. Moving in circles to the drumbeat, the dancers picked up speed, whirling at an ever-increasing pace till the end.

Also, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and the groups observed Pashtun Culture Day on Sea View. A large number of Pashtun residents from the city’s various parts, including Landhi, Sohrab Goth, SITE, Baldia Town, Lea Market, Sultanabad and Purani Sabzi Mandi, attended the event by joining the celebrations in the form of convoys.

Some of the participants performed traditional dances including the Mehsud, Akakhel, and Quettawal Attanr.

PkMAP Sindh President Nazir Jan and other leaders on the occasion said the Pashtun community was the worst victim of terrorism both in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. “Despite all resistance of terrorist forces, Pashtun liberal forces are promoting their own cultural activities across Pakistan,” Jan said.

Pakistan Peoples Party supremo Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan Convener Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s parliamentary leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh, in their separate statements, felicitated all the Pashtuns on the annual Pashtun Culture Day and said that such festivals promote peace, happiness and love.