KARACHI, Dec 2: Speakers at the seventh Akhter Hameed Khan Development Forum on Saturday highlighted the significance of culture in a society and stressed on joint efforts by all segments of the society to cope with the decay of culture and fight the anti-culture elements steadily penetrating the society.

Distinguished writers and scholars shared their thoughts on ‘The Relationship of Culture to Development and Politics’, the theme of the event organised at the Arts Council Auditorium.

Eminent Sindhi short-story writer Amar Jaleel, who presided over the first session of the debate, said Pakistan was a multi-cultural and multi-lingual state where every province had its own culture, heritage and language.

“In our country, only one culture is common in all parts of Pakistan, and that is ‘police culture’, he sarcastically remarked.

He said culture was a casualty of the oppression let loose by feudal lords in the interior of Sindh for decades.

“While cultures in Sindh’s interior are destroyed by these worst oppressors, it is not a case in the Punjab, perhaps because in every second family in Punjab, at least one member belongs to the army and restrains feudal lords from committing such excesses as intensely as they resort to in the Sindh interior,” said Mr Jaleel.

Exploiters in Pakistan are patronised by rulers which is the main obstacle in the way of any change coming to the society.

According to him, Pakistan’s history has not been properly written due to which its citizens are not aware of its rich heritage.

About the country’s politic culture, he observed that what was in Pakistan could not be called ‘politics’.

Distinguished fiction writer and critic Intizar Hussain said: “Culture is like a self-grown plant which needs no extra care and meticulous creators to grow. Rather, culture makes its way into a society, besides defining and redefining its own values.”

Arif Hasan shared profile of the late Akhter Hameed with the audience and said the system Mr Khan had introduced in Pakistan vis-à-vis response to floods in the formerly East Pakistan, the Orangi Pilot Project, etc. were acclaimed worldwide.

Later, a panel discussion on the theme was held in which Harris Khalique, Durriya Kazi, Aquila Ismail and Gulbaz Afaqi took part. Hafiz Rashid recited poetry of Akhtar Hameed Khan.