Terrorists’ narrative to be defeated through revival of country’s original narrative: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD, May 23 (APP): Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that the government was making strenuous efforts to rediscover and revive the indigenous and genuine narrative of the country with the help of all the stakeholders to neutralize the narrative of the terrorists and advocates of religious extremism.
Talking to the media after inaugurating a media festival here at
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology
(SZABIST), she said that Pakistan had suffered enormously due to the burgeoning terrorism and religious extremism during the past 30 to
35 years.
The minister said that Pakistanis were a resilient nation and the armed forces and law enforcement agencies of the country had bravely fought against the terrorist elements and almost wiped them out. However, she said that the fight against terrorism needed to be supplemented by an ideological counter-narrative to challenge the narrative of skewed mindset and the enemies of the country.
Marriyum said that Pakistan had a very vibrant and thriving film industry in the sixties and seventies, which not only provided entertainment to the masses but also played a significant role in cementing national integration and unity.
She said that on the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the government was planning to revive the film industry by formulating the first ever film production and broadcast policy in consultation with all the stakeholders.
The minister said that the culture, national heritage, languages
and artists were the real identity of Pakistan and the time had come to promote them for countering the narrative of the terrorists.
Marriyum Aurangzeb said that on the directive of the Prime Minister
the government had decided to dedicate one of the PTV channels for the children to air educative, curricula related and entertainment
programmes for them, which were missing from the television screens during the last few decades.
She said that this year Pakistan’s 70th year of independence was being celebrated in a befitting manner and the nation on the occasion would renew the pledge to revive the real image of Pakistan.
She said that Pakistan had a unique national heritage that spanned the length and breadth of the country beginning from Gilgit-Baltistan to the coast of Balochistan.
Dilating on the development potential of CPEC, the minister said that the mega-economic initiative was an opportunity to take the country to new heights of progress and development. It was not only a route but also an umbilical cord to provide connectivity to the culture and national heritage of Pakistan with the rest of the world, besides securing the future of the youth, she added.
The minister asked the media to supplement the government’s efforts in reviving the real image of the country and to erase the extremist mindset from the society.
Earlier speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of the Media Festival, she said that revival of national narrative was being done with the support of all the stakeholders.
She said that during past three decades, the image of the country was badly tarnished due to terrorism. However, during the last four years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, steps had been taken with the help of provincial governments for the revival of films, culture and sports activities in the country, she added.
The minister said that several competitions were being organized by Pakistan Television (PTV) and Radio Pakistan in connection with the 70th anniversary of the creation of Pakistan.
She said that faculties of the universities and media represented the colourful culture and heritage of the country and they were playing their due role in the development of the counter-narrative.