http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/feb2005-daily/02-02-2005/metro/k14.htm
‘Art is an inherent part of any civilized society’
By Muniba Kamal
KARACHI: President Musharraf officially inaugurated the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA). “We believe that music, drama and dance is an inherent part of any civilized society. It is unfortunate that for the last fifty years we have neglected this important aspect of a civilized nation,” he said laying to rest the ghost of the historical indifference of the state to the arts that has so far prevailed in Pakistan.
The inauguration of NAPA was short spark of brilliance, with a short recital by Napa Chairman Zia Moheyuddin who declaimed a soliloquy from Hamlet and ‘Lament of an Actor’ a short witty poem. This was followed by some musical performances.
It was a little taste of what is to come from Napa, but on this evening, the President was the star of the show, simply for putting the might of the state behind the cause of performing arts that have been slowly suffocating since the creation of Pakistan, especially in Karachi where there has been a cultural drought for many years.
The audience burst into spontaneous applause when he spoke about the criteria for choosing the city Napa would be set up. “It had to have people keen to learn, people keen to teach and an audience that was willing to attend cultural programs. We quickly rejected Islamabad because all three are missing there,” said the President and added that ultimately it was a toss up between Lahore and Karachi.
President Musharraf initiated Napa by bringing Zia Moheyuddin on board.
For the last year, the two have been in consultation to set up the academy. The project is obviously very close to his heart and he looks at it as being intrinsic to the progressive Pakistan he envisions. “Our projection abroad is that of a hard face that hides our softer image,” he said adding that this could be done by carrying forward the genius of Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Noorjehan and Mehdi Hasan.
“We don’t lack talent. We lack the talent to develop talent,” he said and hoped that Napa would fill this vaccum. Reiterating a plea made by Zia Moheyuddin earlier, President Musharraf urged the corporate sector and private individuals to come forward and support the performing arts.
He followed this by pledging one crore rupees from the government of Pakistan to Napa. This act was repeated by the Government of Sindh that pledged another crore. Representatives of multi national corporations and private individuals followed suit, with lesser sums; more poignant were the donations made by two students of Napa that were a pittance compared to the larger sums, but these were what showed the spirit that can resuscitate the performing arts that have for so long been neglected.
All in all, the inauguration of Napa was a historic evening, because it shows the changing attitude of the State towards culture. The President himself put it in a nutshell without mincing words by acknowledging this sad fact. "We would always give awards to the artists but never attend their performances.
The hypocrisy is over," he said and put his words into action by sitting down and enjoying the performances of Ustad Mohammad Hussain who performed a short alaap on the sarangi, Salamat Ali, who sang a thumri and the tour de force of the evening that was the jugalbandi between sitar maestro Ustad Nafees Ahmad Khan, guitar whiz Aamir Zaki and tabla nawaz Ashraf Ali.
sounds a bit sketchy but i guess it would be good to wait and see what it turns out to be like…if it promotes our true cultural art forms then i think it would be a good step…