ISLAMABAD: In line with its mandate to document, preserve and project the cultural heritage of Pakistan, Lok Virsa is trying to inculcate awareness among the youth by giving them maximum access to its cultural, research and audio visual facilities spread over a huge area located at the lush green Shakerparian.

Lok Virsa Executive Director Khalid Javed said “The major initiatives taken in this regard include establishment of Lok Virsa children folklore society in a number of remote and far-flung areas in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, free entry for students to the National Heritage Museum and Pakistan Monument Museum on Fridays, introduction of a new specialised subject on ‘Museology’ under German experts at the National Institute of Cultural Studies (NICS) run through private-public partnership and professional facilitation to the university students, scholars intending to do research work on Pakistan’s cultural heritage, oral traditions, ethnology, ethnography, arts, crafts and other related disciplines.”

Javed added “Pakistani culture is diverse but it has unity in it. This unity in diversity needs to be explained to our youth through constant interaction, cultural activities and folkloric expressions. Lok Virsa intends to enrich the imaginative life of the youth by providing their thought with indigenous content, colouring their sensibility with hues of our local life. Our purpose is to create an opportunity for the Pakistani youth to celebrate their rich cultural heritage to explore use of their thoughts. We believe that in this way, we can nurture among them the great values of our cultural heritage and promote peace, love, harmony, forgiveness, tolerance and caring relationship embodied in the folk traditions.”

During the last 20 days, over four thousand students from various schools including Beacon Public School, Sialkot, Hussain Public School, Sialkot, National University of Science & Technology (NUST), Lahore, Fauji Foundation School, Rawalpindi, NFC Institute of Engineering and Fertilizer Research, Faisalabad, Gift Education System, Gujranwala, Millat School & College, Murree, Feroz Memorial Trust School, Mansehra, Crescent School System, Faisalabad, M.K. Science High School, Gujranwala, Government Girls High School, Mansehra, Al-Noor Model School, Charsaddah, Minhaj Model School, Azad Kashmir, Government High School, Kotli, Iqbal Children Academy, Muzaffarabad, Usman Grammer School, Nankana Sahab visited Heritage Museum. The record shows that majority of the educational institutions from far-flung areas availed the opportunity.Daily Times.