Fazilka heritage festival opens, calls for saving ecology

Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, April 6
Fazilka's famous heritage festival, a four-day art and cultural extravaganza, began with much fanfare on Thursday night. The theme of the event this year is saving water, trees, earth, energy, fight against social evils and promoting rich heritage of this historical town.

On the inaugural day, a new slogan "Hug Trees Hug Life" was given to the society with an aim to protect the green cover from further damage.

The sixth heritage festival is being organised by the Graduate Welfare Association, Fazilka (GWAF), in association with the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board.

"This event will not only promote the vibrancy of Fazilka's culture and Punjabiat in the border region of Punjab but will also help in establishing Fazilka as a brand city," hoped Dr Bhupinder Singh, patron of the GWAF. Municipal Council president Anil Sethi inaugurated the festival by lighting a lamp.

Ghanshayam Sharma, who successfully performed as a projector man for 34 years in the local Sanjeev Cinema, was conferred with the Life Time Achievement Award by GWAF president Umesh Chander Kukkar, general secretary Navdeep Asija, working president Pritam Kaur, Shaheed Bhagat SinghYouth Club president Pamma Warer and others.

On the occasion, the historical building of the Fazilka clock tower (a car free zone area) was illuminated. Youths danced till midnight to the live rock band performances in front of the clock tower.

In a stage performance, tiny-tots of the Joyti Kids Care Home exhorted the gathering to save trees, water, stop using polythene, checking female foeticide, child labour and child marriage besides conserving fuel and energy, and using solar equipment. They also denounced inflation, corruption and other social evils.

Performances by the Ibadat Musical group of Fazilka, Gurnam Bhullar, the recipient of the Nikki Awaz Punjab Di and Awaz-e-Punjab award by a Punjabi television channel, and a drama enacted by the artistes of the Guru Gobind Singh Yourth Club mesmerised the audience till midnight.

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