Minister for Law, Justice, Parliamentary Affairs, Relief and Rehabilitation, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Saturday said Kashmir has a rich and fascinating cultural heritage which needs to be preserved for the posterity.
“It is our moral duty to preserve and promote our distinct and rich cultural heritage,” Bukhari said while speaking at the inaugural function of Festival-cum-Exhibition - Kashmiriyat, held at a private educational institution at Lalad, Sangrama where he was the chief guest.
Bukhari underscored the need for undoing the damage done to the state’s culture and language by modernization and other allied factors.
The Minister said Kashmir is losing some of its ethnicity and culture everyday because of various factors and this process has to be reversed. “While we should be open to modernization but at the same time we should ensure that our cultural heritage doesn’t get annihilated in the process,” he said.
Bukhari said it is the wisdom and intellect of our ancestors that supplemented the economy, business, art and craft even in absence of any advanced technology at that point in time, which is required to be preserved and carried forward to maintain the proud legacy.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
Earlier, the Minister also went around an exhibition put up by the students of the institute depicting various facets and colors of Kashmiri culture. It recreated different aspects of rural life by including religion, agriculture, art, handicrafts etc.
The Minister said that the exhibition reminds him of a radio programme 'Baaz Gasht’ which was started by him to showcase various aspects of Kashmir’s neglected cultural heritage.
He appreciated the efforts of the students and the management and asked them to prepare for such a display at a larger platform so that it becomes a trendsetter for other organizations to follow in their endeavor to preserve JK’s rich culture.
SSP Sopore, ACR Baramulla, SDM Sopore besides other senior officers, school staff and students were present on the occasion.