Lucknow, Apr 11: To popularise J&K’s culture at the national level, the Academy of Art, Culture and Languages has decided to observe 2010 as the year of “Cultural Dialogue.”
“This is being done to facilitate interaction between the J&K and other states,” Academy secretary, Zafar Iqbal Manhas said at a cultural event in Lucknow. He said the event was organised by the Academy in collaboration with Ashiana Parivar to aware people about the rich cultural diversity and pluralism of the state adding the Academy had organised cultural programmes at Delhi and Pune.
Commenting about the Lucknow event, he said that it was a successful programme the Academy had organised in recent times. “The fact that hundreds of people witnessed it shows that we have been able to achieve our objectives,” Zafar said.
Over the past couple of months, the Academy had been organising several cultural programmes in select Indian cities as part of its “cultural dialogue programme”.
“Through our cultural dialogue programme we are trying to send out a message of peace and love across India,” the secretary said. He said Jammu and Kashmir was a unique state on account of its “cultural diversity and plurality”. “Ours is a unique state in terms of diversity of culture and pluralism and we would leave no stone unturned in showcasing it across the country,” Zafar said.
Lucknow Mayor, Dr. Danesh Sharma praised the Academy for organising the colourful programme. “Hopefully, the city would get another chance to see such performances in future also”.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:00:00 IST