(که سپوره وي که پوره وي نو په شریکه به وي (باچاخان)

Music Freedom Day

[29.Mar.2014 - 20:25]

29.03.2014 : The Culture Journalists Forum (CJF ) celebrated music freedom day across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Malakand, Swat, Bunir, Swabi, Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, D I Khan andPeshawar. The Culture Journalists Forum (CJF) and Takhleeq Development Foundation (TDF) jointly arranged a musical evening at Peshawar Services Club here on  Monday March 5, 2014 . Mian Iftikhar Hussain graced the event as the chief guest.

Artists and singers were unanimous on the agenda of providing security and financial support to them throughout the province .The artists and singers have demanded of the KP government to address their security and financial issues.  They said their families literally starve because of their poor financial condition. They said they were waging war against the unabated onslaught by militants on art and culture. Young and old singers including Shahsawar, , Humayoun Khan, Bakhtiyar Khattak, Saima Naz, , sidra khan , aini khan ` rizwana khan ` sami khan  and Gulab Afridi performed on the event.

Speaking on the occasion he said that music could be used to propagate message of peace and harmony among people adding that during tenure of his government he did much for boosting literary and cultural activities and set up a culture directorate for addressing genuine issues of the singers and artists.  He said singers were responsible for preserving oral history of Pashtuns through their art.

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should announce a well-articulated cultural policy as it would change the miserable plight of the artists of the militancy plagued province, Mr Hussain said.  He said his government had extended financial support to hundreds of singers and artists but regretfully it does not seem to be the priority of the incumbent KP government, he said.

Khadim Hussain Managing Director of Bacha Khan Educational Foundation (BkEF) said that artists

were a great asset and they should be protected at all costs.  He said that negative forces were bent upon eliminating Pashtun’s cultural identity but they would never succeed in their evil designs.  Cultural identity cannot be wiped out because it lived among people arguing that despite all odds Pashto music improved over the years as new singers emerged, he observed.

Ihtisham Toru president Culture Journalists Forum (CJF) demanded of the KP government to solve problems of the artists and singers. He said artists and singers had no voice to raise their issues, however, previous KP government had kept alive spirit of artist’s community. “We have several times tried our best to walk up to the high- ups of the KP culture department and culture directorate do something about issues of the artists but no avail, we shall continue to talk on their behalf at every forum, artists and singers are being faced by numerous problems including security and financial constraints which needs immediate solution,’ he urged.

Noted TV actor and president of Takhleeq Development Foundation (TDf) Arshad Hussain said that artists and singers were the most vulnerable segment of the society. He said successive governments had been ignoring them.  Institutions are there, even cultural policy document which was prepared in the tenure of ANP led  KP government is also lying in the shelf but nobody is bothering to bring it out to at least have a glance at it , Mr Hussain regretted.

Wazir Khan Afridi a young folk singer complained that local media’s was mistreated his community. A week ago media ran false news of my death which was shocking for me as well for my fans. Despite my clarification no news outlet ran it. “We expect media to become our voice but it is other way round,’ he said.

Tariq Jamal president artists organization Awaz said that 95 per cent artists and singers lived at rented rooms in the city, most of them had been confined to city only because of law and order. “Even Nishtar hall is not functional for them because KP government has not arranged any function or event to encourage them, he said.

 

- Khyber
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