ISLAMABAD: A three-day Youth Cultural Mela started on Friday at Lok Virsa with an aim to create awareness among the younger generation about the indigenous folk heritage of Pakistan.

The show was inaugurated by State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, who was late in coming to the event.

The ceremony had to be completed by noon but the minister reached the venue at 11:40am so the event concluded at 12:40pm.

A student told Dawn that on Friday, her school timings are till noon and that the school had told her they will be back by that time. She said she gets home via a private van which she feared would have already left by the time they got back to the school.

One of the teachers accompanying the students said it is unfortunate that government schools are ordered to bring their children to government programmes so that they have a full house and so that ministers think they are popular.

“This practice should be stopped because both students and teachers suffer due to this. The vans which take the children home will have gone when we get back and we will either have to contact their parents or arrange conveyance for them,” she said.

Students who performed in the ceremony were also not given lunch.

The ceremony started with the national song Sohni Dharti and students from various schools in the capital presented the works of Iqbal and famous Balochi, Pashto, Sindhi, Kashmir and Chitrali folk songs.

A dancers’ group from Lok Virsa presented a live folk song from Gilgit-Baltistan and the Niazi brothers concluded the ceremony with their dhamal performance.

The ceremony did not have performances by young professional artists other than the group from Chitral and students were performing the same songs like Bibi Shireenay, Mor Tor Tilay Rana, Manay De Mauj Which and Dene Pe Dana etc- wearing the same costumes that are used in almost all such events in Lok Virsa including on Iqbal Day, Independence Day, Quaid-i-Azam Day and Christmas events.

Talking to Dawn, a group of students said there should be something new in the cultural mela and that the school administrations and Lok Virsa should give an opportunity to other students to participate in such functions. Performances should also include those by young professional artists.

During her address, Ms Aurangzeb said such festivals provide a great opportunity for the promotion of traditional skills and create awareness among the youth about the cultural heritage of Pakistan.

She said culture can be used to promote a soft image of Pakistan and can strengthen national harmony. She also talked about the ministry’s effort to formulate the first film policy in Pakistan.

She said Pakistan once used to produce the third most films in the world and that film-making has been affected due to terrorism. She said the new policy will help Pakistani films to be screened in other countries as well. She added that this will help others understand our culture and the country.

She cut a ribbon to formally inaugurate the mela and visited various stalls and saw demonstrations by young artists.

The three-day festival also includes artisans-at-work, folk music performances, folk dances and performances by dholis, or traditional drummers, traditional cuisine and a craft bazaar.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2018