PESHAWAR, March 1: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has adopted a holistic approach to counter extremism by improving economic conditions, creating jobs and promoting sports and culture, said Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain while speaking at a press conference at the Civil Officers Mess here on Thursday.

He said that the directorate of culture had made preparations for arranging cultural festivals in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan in March.

“Extremism cannot be eliminated by bullets only. It requires a change in mindset to weaken the terrorists by making people to make a conscious decision to withdraw their support from extremist elements,” said Mr Hussain, who also heads the culture ministry.

He said that a two-day cultural event titled as “The Cultural Revival of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” would commence from Saturday (tomorrow). He added that a three-day “Peace Spring Festival” had been planned in Dera Ismail Khan in the third week of March.

The Peshawar’s festival, he said, would entail two full days of entertainment for families. Apart from stage shows and musical programmes that would include performances by local and national level artists and singers, traditional dances, including Attanr (to be presented by Mehsud performers), Khattak dance, and Chitrali dance would feature in the festival.

“We request the fun-loving families of Peshawar and other areas to come and attend the entertainment events because we all deserve a better life, escaping for a while from the tensions of terrorism,” said the minister. Senior officers of the culture department were also present at the press conference.

The spring festival at D.I. Khan will feature local sports, including dog race, camel race, horse dance, wrestling, tent-pegging, and weight (heavy stone) lifting competition. The minister said that teams from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Federally Administered Tribal Areas would participate in the competitions.

Events like folk dance and local music would also be organised side by side food and embroidery stalls, he added.

Answering a question, he acknowledged security risks at the Peshawar event and said that the provincial government would make complete security arrangements in and around the festival venue. Mr Hussain said that in view of the overwhelming response to the recently-held cultural events in Peshawar the government knew that people wanted more entertainment activities, forgetting about extremists for a while.

“Our society, as a whole, has developed psychological issues, they need entertainment and opportunities to enjoy their surroundings,” he said.

The minister said that the government was working to isolate the terrorists by implementing plans to create jobs and income generation opportunities for the youth, arrange sports and cultural activities, and carry out development works.

The strategy, he added, would create a long lasting imprint on the conscience of those who held soft corner in their hearts for extremists, making them to withdraw their support from them.