LAHORE: Pakistani culture is a multi-angled topic and every individual has some opinion on it with a certain degree of validity; basically culture is the fundamental right of every individual.

Intellectuals, writers and poets held a discussion on Wednesday at Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, on the launch of a book ‘Pakistani Saqafat’ by Uxi Mufti.

The book launch was organised by the Lahore Council of Arts with the Mumtaz Mufti Adabi Trust.

Uxi said culture was a vivid topic and every person had their own opinion about it. He said in this book he had come up with a synthesis of Pakistani culture.Guest of Honour SM Zafar called the book a dialogue between the writer and the reader on culture. To him, Uxi’s way of writing was novel. He endorsed writer’s point that history of this part of the world did not take a start with Muhammad Bin Qasim but with saints such as Khawja Moeenuddin Chishti. He said culture now had become a commercial commodity under the wave of corporate culture.

Playwright and educationist Asghar Nadeem Syed said Mufti’s book was a mosaic of Pakistani culture as it presented true identity of Pakistani culture and tradition. He said some private universities had distorted Pakistani culture.Story writer and columnist Parveen Atif said Uxi had written well on regional languages and the culture associated with those languages. She said there was a great need to write a book on the syllabi being taught in educational institutions. She said with the passage of time extremism had gripped religion and a tolerant society seemed a dream.

Playwright Shahid Mehmood Nadeem said Uxi had always given projection to Pakistani culture in its true spirits.

Architect Nayyer Ali Dada said Uxi had discussed all aspects of Pakistani culture be it was folk or general. Culture, he said, always came out of life with a sense of continuity and later the cultural identity got established.

Walled City project head Kamran Lashari said cultural crisis was Pakistan’s core issue. He said the book had been written without any religious hatred.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2014