US grants $320,000 for Balochistan’s historic Museum

QUETTA: The United States has announced for 320,000 US Dollars for protection of Balochistan’s historical and cultural heritage Mehrgarh Museum.

The United States Ambassador Donald Blome, alongside Caretaker Chief Minister Balochistan Ali Mardan Khan Domki, unveiled the province’s first ever Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) Project with a $320,000 grant to the Mehrgarh Museum in Quetta.

Balochistan’s Ministry of Culture and Sindh Adventure and Exploration Society will use the grant to strengthen the preservation of artifacts from Mehrgarh — the earliest known agricultural civilization in South Asia.

Ambassador Donald Bloom said that this effort reflects that the United States values the cultural heritage of Balochistan. Under the AFCP, the United States is supporting the restoration of 33 historic sites across Pakistan, some dating back 2,000 years. This includes Mosques, Buddhist monasteries, Hindu monuments, Sufi shrines, and relics of the Mughal Empire, which flourished between the 16th and mid-19th centuries.

Earlier, Caretaker Minister for Culture and Heritage Jamal Shah has announced to launch dedicated heritage channel for the promotion of regional literature of Pakistan.

The minister made the announcement while addressing the inaugural session of a two-day conference titled ‘Hum Jugnu Taaray Dharti Ke’ at Pakistan Academy of Letters in Islamabad.

The minister said the channel will include translated versions of different genres of regional literature including parables, adages, poetry and music so that youth in every part of the country, speaking any language can understand the essence of folk wisdom of our culturally diverse country.