03 October 2004	Sunday	17 Shaban 1425

LAHORE, Oct 2: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool has condemned in the strongest terms the suicide bombing inside a mosque in Sialkot, saying the attackers have no relationship with the country.

The governor was talking to reporters after inaugurating the Fourth International Calligraphy and Calligraph-Art Exhibition and Competition 2004, organized by the Pakistan Calligraph Artists' Guild (PCG) at the Alhamra Art Centre on Saturday.

He said the ghastly bomb attack was altogether against the Islamic teachings.

The government had apprehended all such culprits in the past and would also arrest the attackers involved in the fresh incident. Saying that the intelligence and security system in the country was very strong, he added that the government would ensure that no such incident took place in future.

He also said President Gen Pervez Musharraf's government had launched a crusade against terrorists and would surely arrest the Sialkot mosque blast planners.

Earlier, speaking at the inaugural session of the exhibition, the governor regretted that Islam had been projected narrowly in the world.

He said the calligraphy and calligraph-art exhibition was being participated in by delegates from eight Muslim countries and art objects had been brought for the exhibition from 18 Muslim countries.

He said the Islamic society had promoted Islamic art and was the custodian of this great tradition of calligraphy. "The calligraphy is a way of cooperation among Muslims and other religions in the world."

The governor said the Punjab government was promoting art and had launched art classes in educational institutions in Multan and Faisalabad. He said the government would also launch formal teaching of calligraphy in art colleges across the province.

He said he had also asked Seth Abid to establish a calligraphy academy for the PCG.

PCG's Athar Tahir said the calligraph art had started simultaneously in Pakistan and other Muslim countries because of the impact of western aesthetics. In the calligraph art, he said, the element of creativity was dominant.

Former foreign minister Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali highly appreciated the book on calligraphy art by Athar Tahir. He said the book was a celebration of faith and mystic content of Islam.

Punjab Public Service Commission member Arifa Syeda Zehra and Lahore Museum's Ms Nusrat Ali also gave a review of Athar Tahir's book on calligraphy.

Farid Ali, a delegate from Kuwait who has the honour of writing the name of Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) in 500 different styles, said the PCG was working successfully and getting stronger with every passing day. He said he wanted that people should be motivated to create innovations in the art of calligraphy.

Prof Dr Shaukat Mahmood gave a slide show presentation about the calligraph art while sculptor Amin Gulgee made a slide show of his work in calligraph art.

The governor later presented shields and cash prizes to the top three position holders in the traditional calligraphy and calligraph-art competition.

In traditional calligraphy, Muneeb from Bosnia bagged the first prize while Ibrahim and Abdul Lali from Syria shared the second prize. The third prize was shared by Zulfiqar and Ashraf Hira of Pakistan.

In the calligraph art, Maseemo Kalelo from Italy clinched the first prize. Arif Khan of Pakistan and Hakeem of Mongolia got second and third prizes, respectively.

The governor also opened the calligraphy and calligraph-art exhibition, which would continue till Oct 22.