Attack on Pakhtun culture was conspiracy: minister

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Culture and Information Iftikhar Hussein has said that through pre-planned conspiracy, "our culture was attacked and weakened in one or the other way so as to impose foreign culture on us and make us weak as a nation". He expressed these views while visiting the Hunar Mela, organised by the Culture Department, near Nishtar Hall, Peshawar, on Wednesday. Director Culture Mushtaq accompanied the minister on this occasion.
The minister expressed his great pleasure over the enthusiastic participation of the general public in Hunar Mela and mixed with the people. He said that despite rough weather the active participation of the people in large number in the Mela shows that the patriotic citizens love their culture, want peace and hate terrorism and extremism. He said that holding of such cultural activities would convey a positive message to the outer world and would also "remove the negative impression prevailing against us".
Iftikhar said that due to the negligence of the past rulers, "our culture and arts were disappearing" which would be revived at all costs. He said that to develop and preserve the culture, a permanent centre would be established in Peshawar where the artisans besides working there would also display their arts.
Similarly, an art gallery and a big hall having double capacity of Nishtar Hall would also be constructed adjacent to the Nishtar Hall, Peshawar, he added. The minister said that the government was well aware of the problems of the artisans and they would be given loans on soft terms as well as access to the national and international market to ameliorate their lot.
He said that culture "is our national heritage and we would revive it" and ensure its preservation with the co-operation of the people. He appealed to the artisans, culture related people and general public to send their suggestions and proposals for promotion and preservation of culture, arts and heritage of the province to the culture and information departments so as to take effective measures in this regard.
Earlier, he handed over a cheque of Rs 0.1 million to the son of prominent journalist of Hangu Shaheed Misri Khan and said that those who offer sacrifices for the nation never die; rather they remain alive in the hearts of the people. He added that Shaheed Misri Khan was among those martyr journalists who boldly used their pen against terrorism. He paid rich tributes to Misri Khan for his valuable services in the field of journalism. Chairman of Hangu Press Club, Saif ul Islam was also present on this occasion.