ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (APP): Caretaker Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi on Wednesday underlined the need for promoting cinemas in the country to foster cultural values of tolerance and harmony in the society.
Addressing the screening ceremony of a Kazakh movie at the Pakistan National Council of Arts, he said, “Nothing impresses, educates and illuminates better than cinema. Probably hundreds of high-pitch, hyperbolic and hyper ventilating speeches cannot educate you like this movie, I am sure, can educate and sensitize you better.”
He expressed gratitude to the ambassador of Kazakhstan in Pakistan and Caretaker Minister for Culture and Heritage Jamal Shah for inviting him to speak on the screening of “Kazakh Khanate”.
“Nobody probably in this auditorium can truly represent cinema better than Jamal Shah. He lives and breaths cinema,” he said while expressing the resolve to work with his cabinet colleague to promote the culture through cinema.
“We will try both with and without the government to do our job to address the challenges people faced today,” he said while highlighting the urgency for the next elected government to address the poly crises such as culture of intolerance, extreme polarization amid the heavily divided global landscape.
“We have huge challenges in front of us and one of those challenges in the domain of culture and perception is extreme intolerance, and personality cult and cult worship that won’t be cured by criminalizing things,” he noted.
The minister said, “Law will and shall take its course but when it comes to dealing with long term consequences, there is nothing better than culture. In culture, cinema holds special place, so we must promote good cinemas. “
He assured the Kazakh envoy of all-out support of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and its attached departments.
“Kazakhstan is not a far away land” as it was connected with Pakistan both geographically and culturally, he added.
“There is a great future for cooperation between Pakistan and Kazakhstan,” he said, noting that the screening of the film “should be a learning experience and a point of departure to deepen our relationship to new heights.”
