PESHAWAR: The basic aim of holding a cultural event was to drive away fear and ensure public participation, said Shafeeq Gigyani, president of Poha Foundation, a civil society organisation.

The foundation in collaboration with Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) arranged a cultural event at a college in Nahaqi union council, 10 km away from Peshawar, here on Friday evening.

He said that the tragic incident of Army Public School (APS) had shocked the whole nation and a general fear prevailed among people across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that the event was an attempt to drive away fear and ensure people’s participation in public gatherings so that their confidence could be restored.

“I got relaxed tonight and also gained some knowledge about different issues. I was scared after the APS incident to attend a public gathering. This cultural event gave me courage to have confidence and participate in social and cultural events. We have no option, but to fight back,” Rashid Jan Hameed, a local resident, told Dawn.

“We cannot forget the tragic massacre of innocent children. We need to be resilient to face challenges. Extremism, domestic violence, child abuse, marginalisation of less privileged segments of society and social injustice are some of our grave issues,” Mr Gigyani said.

He said that cultural events could bring people closer together at a platform to debate their issues and find out a peaceful solution to them. He said that public events raised confidence level of people where they voiced their grievances and shared ideas to create awareness and educate masses about their rights and social responsibilities.

Ibrahim Aeingar, a social activist pointed out that it was not only through deep mourning that those issues could be resolved. He said that public participation could also lead them to think collectively and devise ways to combat extremism and other social issues.

He said that violence against women could be minimised if not eliminated at this moment. “Our culture allows us to sit together, debate our issues and arrive at a peaceful solution to a conflict confronting us. Sitting quiet in a corner and mourning is not a solution. We should encourage public participation to show our strength and resilience to the world,” Mr Aeingar said.

Waqas Buneri and Salman Yousafzai moderated speech and debate session on ‘Safe participation of women in politics.’ The speakers stressed that women should be encouraged to take active part in social and political activities.

Later, a traditional Pashto musical concert was held in open air. Young folk singers Tufail Khan and Wajid Ali performed and entertained the participants. Local elders, students and young social activists attended the cultural event.

Published in Dawn January 10th , 2014

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