PESHAWAR - Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur has said that culture is the identity of a nation and urged upon students to value the cultural norms.
He was addressing at the annual culture day event organised by final year MBBS students of Gomal Medical College Dera Ismail Khan.
The minister said: “Young people are nation’s precious asset, so they must think how to develop their country, culture and traditions.”
He underlined the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan was to provide sufficient opportunities to youth. “The government will support for holding such programmes to promote our culture world wise,” he added.
A large number of students, faculty chiefs of different departments, families, local literati and artists attended the function.
Different stalls were set up to display Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Saraiki, Kashmiri, and Pakhtun cultural things.
A bilingual poetry mushaira was held in which Pashto and Seraiki poets took part and it was followed by a musical concert. Students attired in cultural dresses attracted visitors and guests.
Popular Pashto and Saraiki folk singers Bakhtiar Khattak, Aslam Salik, Shaukat Swati, Laila Khan, Dr Atta and Arslan Chandu sang numbers of songs and received rounds of applause from the participants.
Noted Pashto poets, including Hasina Gul, Prof Iqbal Shakir, Zafar Khan Zafar, Bakhtzada Danish, Afsar Afghan, and Imrahim Khan read out their poems while popular Seraiki bards Makhmoor Qalandari, Aftab Awan, Habib Mohana and Fankazanu also participated in the mushaira.
Professor Abaseen Yousafzai graced the occasion as the chief guest and spoke briefly about the importance of social values and its rationale in a peaceful society. He said medical students should know about their own cultural identity for better interaction with patients and the masses at large. “Art and culture help us polish our aesthetic sense and boost our level of confidence,” Yousafzai said.
Prof Dr Arshad Ali Marwat , Dean of Gomal Medical College in a brief talk pointed out that students should participate in healthy activities in the campus to promote a conduce environment and mutual understanding.
He said such positive activities help students get relaxed to know best communicative skills through participating.
Chief organiser of the event, Dr Ikramullah Sparlay said it took him months to organize such grand event with an objective to entertain and inform his fellow students through cultural activities.
Prof Dr Naseem Saba, Prof Dr Amir Amanullah and Dr Naseem Saba Mahsood also spoke at the event.
