Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Some leading singers from Gilgit-Baltistan made the Nouroz celebration a memorable event of the spring season on Saturday night at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).

The jam-packed house with the locals, university students and the mountain communities living in the twin cities swayed to the rhythmic tunes of the mountains’ folk music.

All the soul-touching songs made the event worth enjoying. The young singers Salam Paras and Iqbal Hussain Iqbal attracted the audience to applause and share their joyful singing, while swaying and dancing to the tunes close to the hearts of the every mountain person. Even some of the children also took their space on the stage to amuse the audience with their dancing. The Pakistan Mountain Festival and Devcom-Pakistan, Director Munir Ahmed, was the chief guest on the celebrative occasion, organised by the Gilgit-Baltistan Talent Exploring Society (GBTES) with the support of the Development Communi-cations Network (Devco-Pakistan).

The Nouroz celebration was coupled with the opening ceremony of the 2nd Gilgit-Baltistan Champions Leagues (GBCL), the annual football tournament for the local teams from different universities. Speaking on the occasion, Munir Ahmed said mountains were the frontline of climate change, and mountain communities were most vulnerable to climate impact.

The people’s livelihood and cultures would be the first and immediate victims in case of extended disasters as the result of climate changes. The biological loss in the highlands for over decades had put the mountain communities at the edge of the worst forms of risk. The mountain habitats and cultures were the most precious assets for the country that were being overlooked by the local, provincial and federal governments.

The irrational use of tax-payers money should be check by the concerned authorities with more vigilant mechanisms. Munir Ahmed added that the mountain youth was struggling on their own to explore their talent and channelise their efforts for the betterment of their age-fellows and for the communities.

The lack of patronage from the Gilgit-Baltistan government was depressing and a cause of sheer disappointment for the local youth. He asked for how long the individuals should be contributing to the healthy sports and cultural activities for the mountain communities and youth living in the twin cities. The GB government should take the matter very seriously and take the local active organisations on board to develop a comprehensive community engagement.

Munir Ahmed announced to the take GBTES as a working partner for the 7thPakistan Mountain Festival that would be organised in December this year. He also announced five performance awards for the youth in different sectors along with another five awards for the senior professionals from the mountain communities who were contributing for the development and promotion of mountain issues, culture, and tourism. He said two juries of professionals would decide about these awards that would be presented to the winners at the closing ceremony of the 7thPakistan Mountain Festival in December this year. Irfan Ahmed, the GBTES president said they provided a united platform to all the mountain youth living in the twin cities without any relevance to caste, creed, ethnicity and religious attachment and the society would provide equal opportunities to all. Asif Khan, the Coordinator of the 2nd Gilgit-Baltistan Champions Leagues (GBCL) said more than 20 teams would take part in the tournament of the semis and final of which would take place on April 15 and 16.

Waseem Sajjad Baig said the society had well developed linkages in all universities. The GBTES had branched out from bottom to the region level. The integrated plans would engage and promote the youth to explore their talent and potential in different sectors. The best performers would be recognised and promoted at the national level.