Saturday, July 25, 2020
Kabul (BNA) Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, acting Minister of Information and Culture says that there is desperately need for extensive and continuous relations between the Ministry of Information and Culture and the country's cultural figures.
Minister Zuhair raised this issue in a meeting with cultural figures, writers and university professors in Kabul. Pointing to a perception that there is no defined relationship between the Ministry of Information and Culture and cultural figures, he said:
"We desperately need extensive and continuous relations between the Ministry of Information and Culture and the cultural figures."
A meeting was held with the aim of listening to the constructive suggestions and criticisms of cultural figures and writers in order to improve the situation of culture and publications here Bagh-e-Babur on Thursday.
The acting Minister of Information and Culture called Afghanistan a country that has the deepest roots in culture and called this land the center of Islamic civilization and the growth of thought, philosophy, jurisprudence, mysticism, Sufism, theology, history and interpretation, adding that great cultural celebrities have emerged from this geography. The acting Minister of Information and Culture considered the role of culture in ending the war and establishing peace important and valuable. "Unfortunately, in the last forty years we have witnessed the gradual death of culture and the decline of cultural works," he said.
But in the last twenty years, a lot of work has been done in the field of culture.
Minister Zuhair acknowledged that the Ministry of Information and Culture was facing difficulties in the areas of video, audio, print media, book publishing, the state of writing and the printing industry. He added:
"There is freedom of speech and press in the true sense, but in terms of quality, there are problems in this area as well."
The acting minister of Information and Culture also called the translation into the official languages of the country effective and said: more attention should be paid to the translation of books into the official languages of the country.
Minister Zuhair mentioned the cultural works and activities of Shah Amanullah Khan Ghazi and called him a cultural figure and promised to hold a scientific-research seminar on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the country's independence. At the end of his speech to the cultural figures, the acting minister of information and culture said:
"We need your support and cooperation in improving the cultural situation."
Then Ahmad Zia Rifat, a professor at Kabul University, spoke and described the rift between governmental and non-governmental cultural institutions as one of the most serious problems.
He asked government to ease the groundwork for relations between governmental and non-governmental institutions, as well as facilitate the relations between non-governmental cultural institutions and international cultural institutions.
Rafat cited a number of non-governmental media outlets as the language of the Taliban, ISIS and other terrorist groups, and called on the Ministry of Information and Culture to prevent them.
Najibullah Manali also spoke about cultural figures and emphasized on the professionalization of the employees of this ministry and said: the employees of the Ministry of Information and Culture should become professional.
Mohammad Alam Koohkan, researcher and writer, Mohammad Anwar Wafa Samandar, author and chairman of Mina Academy, and Safia Siddiqui, poet, writer and former member of the Wolesi Jirga, also spoke at the meeting.
At the end, the participants had a free discussion and expressed their suggestions for further improvement of the cultural situation in the country.
