ISLAMABAD, July 23: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto has stressed the need to relate the teachings of Sufi poets to the present conditions to counter fanaticism and give a new direction to the society. The PPP chairperson expressed these views in a message to the World Punjabi Congress chairman, Fakhar Zaman. She felicitated Mr Zaman on organizing a three-day international conference on the great Sufi poet Waris Shah.

Ms Bhutto wished the delegates coming from all over the world to attend the conference a warm welcome and expressed the hope that the event would prove to be constructive.

Emphasizing the need for tolerance and brotherhood in the society and Sufis’ contribution to a peaceful civilization, she said Sufi poets historically symbolized a culture of brotherhood, enlightenment and progress. They repudiated extremism, religious bigotry, obscurantism and mullahism. The poetry of Waris Shah, the social and cultural doyen of Punjab people, is extremely relevant today.

“Sufi poets, Waris Shah, Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, Bulley Shah, Sultan Bahu, Khwaja Farid, Mian Mohammad Baksh from Punjab or Sachal Sarmast and Shah Latif Bhatai from Sindh, Khushhal Khan Khatak and Rehman Baba from the NWFP or Jam Durak and Mast Tawakkali from Balochistan are beacons helping to brighten the path for us to determine our directions. Their teachings aim at rendering a human dimension to society,” the message stated.

“I recall sending a message to the 1st world Punjabi conference organized in Lahore in 1986. In that message, I called for giving all languages of the soil a rightful place. In the case of Punjabi, this is all the more so since it has been neglected in Pakistan,” Ms Bhutto stated.

Regarding PPP’s policy towards culture and heritage, she said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was the first leader to encourage the establishment of a number of cultural institutions. His government took positive steps for the development of local languages.

She said her government also took great interest in flourishing institutions relating to art, culture and literature.

Fakhar Zaman, she said, was the architect of the first cultural policy of the country developed during her government.