Speaker J&K Legislative Assembly Kavinder Gupta today said that religious festivals are an opportunity for strengthening the community structure and such gatherings, venues should be used to spread social messages like women empowerment, focus on education and social awareness among others.The Speaker said this at a function organized to celebrate the festival of Lohri and Makar Sankranti with the populace at Gangyal, Jammu.The Speaker was accompanied by Minister of State for Education, Technical Education and Culture Priya Sethi, MLA Jammu East Rajesh Gupta besides many prominent citizens.Calling Jammu and Kashmir as an abode of communal harmony, the Speaker said that Government is keen to create an environment where people come and share their culture.
“In a multilingual and multicultural State, we have rich culture, music which makes us unique among all,” he said. “More and more such functions and gatherings should be organized wherein it is used to spread social messages like women empowerment,” he added.The Speaker said that social gatherings should be used to create strong wave of messages for communal harmony, socio-political empowerment of the regions across the State.The Speaker interacted with various deputations on the occasion and listened to their grievances. He lauded the organizers for organizing such functions and creating an environment of oneness in a diverse Jammu and Kashmir. “We should come up as a classic example for all the other States as far as the communal harmony is concerned,” he said.Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Education, Technical Education and Culture Priya Sethi said such festivals remind us of our roots. She said that these festivals were a medium to bring various sections and shades of the society together and share joyous movements together.