SUKKUR: The Sindh Cultural Festival began at the historic ruins of Moenjodaro on Saturday after some delay. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the festival, which would continue for 15 days.
Former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, PPP leaders Faryal Talpur, Qamar Zaman Kaira, federal and provincial ministers and foreign delegates attended the colourful event. According to reports, 5,000 security personnel had been deployed at the venue to ensure security.
Bilawal Bhutto described the festival as a historic step to promote the culture of Sindh. The objective of the cultural festival is to celebrate the culture of Sindh and to spread the message of Sindhi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. Renowned singers enthralled the audience with their songs which were highly appreciated.
Meanwhile, members of civil society held a protest demonstration on Saturday against the PPP’s decision to hold a cultural festival at the historic site of Moenjodaro. Members of the civil society, politicians and writers also staged a token hunger strike outside the press club. “Don’t do politics in the name of culture. Don’t ruin Moenjodaro,” the participants of the protest chanted. They also condemned PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for setting up a stage at the ruins of the 5,000-year-old site.
Agencies add: Folk dancers and singers wearing traditional multicoloured dresses gathered on Saturday at one of the world’s most ancient archaeological sites in southern Pakistan for a festival that organisers say aspires to promote peace in a nation where political violence has left some 40,000 dead in recent years.
The festival at Moenjodaro aims to publicise the cultural heritage of the country’s south. But it drew controversy when some archaeologists said the event poses a threat to the site’s unbaked brick ruins dating to the 3rd millennium BC. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, organised the event at Moenjodaro, associated with one of the world’s first urban societies, the Indus Valley civilisation.
Meanwhile, a private news channel on Saturday evening showed Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his sister Bakhtawar singing a folk song to promote Sindhi culture. The song had been recorded ahead of the much-publicised festival, seen as part of efforts to raise the younger Zardari’s profile on the national political stage.
Bilawal selected Moenjodaro “to promote local culture, peace and tolerance,” a government official said. But the festival drew controversy when archaeologists said they fear the stage and other event infrastructure could damage the delicate mud ruins.
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