Minister urges students to value local culture

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Federal Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has urged the students to value local culture as it characterises the experience of everyday life in specific, identifiable localities and reflects ordinary people's feelings of appropriateness, comfort, and correctness.

He was addressing at the Annual Culture Day event organised by the final year MBBS students of Gomal Medical College here. A large number of students, faculty members, families, local literati and artistes attended the function. He said that youth were the nation’s precious asset and that it was Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to provide ample opportunities to the youth.

Different stalls were set up to display Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, Seraiki, Kashmiri and Pakhtun cultures. Later, a bilingual poetry recital session was held in which Pashto and Seraiki poets took part. It was followed by a musical concert. Students attired in cultural dresses attracted visitors and guests. Popular Pashto and Seraiki folk singers - Bakhtiar Khattak, Aslam Salik, Shuakat Swati, Laila Khan, Dr Atta and Arslan Chandu sang a numbers of songs and received thunderous applause from the audiance.

Noted Pashto poets including Hasina Gul, Prof Iqbal Shakir, Zafar Khan Zafar, Bakhtzada Danish, Afsar Afghan, and Ibrahim 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 was the chief guest. He spoke briefly about the importance of social values and its rationale in a peaceful society. He said that 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, said that students participation in healthy activities on the campus promoted a conduce environment and it also boosted mutual understanding. He said that such positive activities helped students get relaxed to know best communicative skills through participating.