KABUL: The Deputy Publication Minister of Information and Culture, Hayatullah Muhajer Farahi, speaking at the 9th St. Petersburg International Culture Forum in Russia, said cultures are the identity of societies and countries shouldn’t be challenged via political pressures and force, the ministry said in a statement the other day. Farahi said traditional and village culture is the basis of strengthening human and social civilization and cultures are also the identity of societies and countries and shouldn’t be challenged via political pressures, according to the statement. “I am from Afghanistan, a country where in the last century the three great powers of the world (Britain, Soviet Union, America and NATO) tried to forcefully change the beliefs, religion, culture and traditions of the people of this country, but they all failed. Therefore, from here it seems that people’s beliefs and culture should be respected and not tried to forcefully change it,” the statement quoted Farahi as saying. Farahi added that Islam as a civilized and developed society affirms the structures and cultures and also stated examples of reforming and strengthening the society, human cultures and habits, especially those that do not conflict with the high values of the Islamic religion. As an accepted principle, arguments are made based on it in the affairs of societies and people, and it is called the principle of life. “Afghanistan is also one of those countries and people whose traditional culture is respected more than anything and is called an accepted reality and sometimes it becomes a reason for making big decisions and positions,” Farahi further said. The Deputy Publication Minister of Information and Culture, Hayatullah Muhajer Farahi according to the statement, went on as saying that respecting cultures and getting to know people is a basic principle in international cultural recognition, based on which people can live with each other in today’s village life and create mutual respect and trust. Those tribes and nations are very strong and respectable who understand and respect the culture and habits of others, said Farahi, adding in addition to all this, Islamic culture is an important principle and a high value of life in traditional and imitative societies, and neglecting it creates a crisis. He also emphasized that the ‘Assembly of United Cultures’ by the Russian Federation preserves relations between different countries of the world based on cultural diplomacy and cultural celebrations and will pave the way for mutual respect and in solving bilateral and multilateral problems. Farahi once again called on the countries participating in the forum to raise their voices in support of the oppressed Palestinian people against the Zionist regime and not to allow any aggressor to make a valuable historical and cultural nation a victim of cruelty and brutal aggression. The topic of the forum was determined as instructed by the Russian president: History and Modernity in Artistic Culture. The program includes three units: Getting to Know History Via Culture, Artificial Intelligence, a Threat or a Benefit for Culture, and Traditional Culture as a Foundation for Building a Civilized Society. Mohammad Nabi Naibi
Cultures shouldn’t be challenged via political pressure, force, Farahi
