'Prime Minister in Dialogue with the Nation': Gilani seeks advice on developing national policy to counter extremism, intolerance

The artistes and playwrights on Friday vowed to stand by the government in ridding the country of extremism, fighting terrorism and developing the staying-power of the society for making the country prosperous and peaceful.
The event - "Prime Minister in Dialogue with the Nation", was the second in the consultation series initiated by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani with the intellectuals, artistes, vice chancellors of universities and media persons, to formulate a national policy to counter the growing trend of intolerance and enhance the level of understanding among the masses. Prime Minister Gilani termed the artistes an asset to the nation and said the government was seeking their views to help devise a policy to project Pakistan's soft image and fight extremism and terrorism.
Prime Minister Gilani said terrorism was a major threat confronting the country and said the artistes can help change the mindset and bring back those people having such tendencies, to lead a steady life. He said the dialogue was meant to seek their guidance at the highest level.
He said that terrorism and extremism were the major issues touched upon by the community and said the military alone cannot fight the terrorists without the support of the common man. He said all political forces were united to stand at the same platform to launch military operations in Swat and Malakand. He said the nation had witnessed the success of the operation and thanked the artistes who had come to the fore to help the 2.9 million displaced persons of the area to return to their homes.
He also lauded the role of Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi who he said played a great role in materialising his idea to arrange a meaningful consultative dialogue with the film and TV artists, painters musicians. Gilani, who personally took notes of important points, raised by the artistes during the discussion, the Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi to review and finalise the suggestions.
The renowned film actor Mustafa Qureshi thanked the Prime minister for inviting the artists for a dialogue. He stressed the need to revive the cinema culture in the country. He praised Zulfiqar Ali Bhttos vision for promotion of culture and establishment of institutions like NFDC, PNCA Lok Virsa. He stressed the need to appoint the Head of the cultural institutions from the relevant fields. The seasoned actor suggested that an artistes fund may be established for their welfare and benefit. He pointed out that there is not a single good laboratory available in the country causing delay in processing of the films and wastage of foreign exchange to get it done from India and Bangkok.
The versatile TV writer anchor and actor Anwar Magsood emphasised the need to establish small theatres housing the facility for painting exhibitions at community level.
The play write expressed her concern over the general situation of the country and said that we should make efforts to bring a positive change. She said that TV Drama is on decline and the cultural being portrayed is not out our national culture. She showed a deep concern over the language being used in the TV plays.
Abid Ali one of the renowned TV actor suggested that TV drama should be given a status of an industry and said that the law regarding the intellectual property rights should be enforced. Abid Ali further said that government should establish a film studio equipped with advance professional hi-tech facilities at Islamabad to promote and facilitate the film art.
Asif Raza Mir expressed his gratitude and said that Pakistan People Peoples Party government has invited artistes for the first time to engage them in a positive dialogue. He said that cultural invasion need to be checked which can achieved by promoting film industry in the country.
The famous semi classical ghazal and kafi singer Surriya Multanikar showed her concern over the dying tradition of classical and semi classical music. She assured the Prime Minister, her free services for teaching of classical and semi classical music if any music academy or institutions is established in Multan. The famed TV actor Shakeel Ahmed discussed the economic instability being faced by the artistes.
The eminent artists including Sahira Kazmi, Jamal Shah Samina Ahmed, Abrarul Haq, Marina Khan, Irfan Khoosat, Firdous Jamal and Laila Zuberi, Sadia Imam also participated in the consultative dialogue. The meeting also took note of the plight of the artiste community, particularly those who were leading a retired life. Prime Minister Gilani said he would make an announcement in his address to the nation on August 14. He said decision about the funding and the mode would be made in consultation with the provincial governments.
Prime Minister Gilani also directed that the Pakistani missions be directed to make the Cultural Attache productive and effective and to seek guidance from artistes, writers and intellectuals in promoting national cultural activities abroad.
The Prime Minister said that culture was now the domain of the provincial ministers and said the points raised at the forum will be raised by him at the meeting of Council of Common Interests so that a uniform policy is formulated for the betterment of the artist community and promotion of arts and literature.
The Prime Minister also assured that measures be taken to give life-time achievement awards to artistes and writers, during their life time. Prime Minister Gilani in his concluding remarks spoke about the various challenges the country was facing. He mentioned the IDPs that were displaced after the operations at Swat and Malakand and said smart cards were used to pay financial compensation to the 2.9 million people without rising of even a single eyebrow or complain of any misappropriation.
The Prime Minister said the shortage of the electricity was a major irritant in enhancing industrial output of the country and for its development and progress. He said 3000 MW had been added in three years by his government, while work was underway for increasing it further. He said work on Bhasha Diamer Dam and Thar Coal Project would start soon. Besides, he said, work on gas pipeline from Iran and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India was also underway. Prime Minister Gilani termed the revival of the 1973 Constitution as the biggest achievement of his government and said the 18th Amendment had empowered the provinces and given them a feeling of ownership.
Gilani said he was consistent and committed to the welfare of all sections of the society. He said he was personally aware of the work and performance of the artiste community and their role in nation building. He said his earlier dialogue with literati had yielded positive results as a number of suggestions were put forward to overcome the menace of extremism.
He said similarly the artistes can contribute positively through their art by spreading love and affection among the people. Gilani said the country's culture was rich with the gem of artistes including classical icon Roshan Ara Begum, Ustad Salamat Ali, Ustad Nusrat Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan and Noor Jahan. He said the musical instruments and the tunes of love emerging from them can be used as a tool to establish softness and tolerance in the society. He said if literature, culture and art are left unnourished, it creates a vacuum. He said the nation today was passing through a critical phase and it would not be possible for the government to move ahead without the guidance of all segments of the society.
Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi expressing the gratitude on overwhelming participation of film and TV artists, painters musicians and cultural personalities from all over the country in "Prime Minister in Dialogue with the Nation" said the Cabinet Division has made all efforts to translate the Prime Ministers idea of first ever consultative sessions into a reality. She further said that the Dialogue is aimed at seeking the views of the participants and to formulate major policy decisions that would be announced by the Prime Minister on August 14th 2011.-PR