Afghan city getting ready for Islamic Cultural festival

Labourers are seen busy either in digging gutters along the streets or asphalting the roads almost in each corner of Ghazni city to modernize the face of the war- battered and rural-like Afghan town.

The war-battered Ghazni province with its capital Ghazni city, 125 km south of Afghan capital Kabul and known for having historical monuments and archeological sites, has been chosen as the capital of Islamic civilization for the year 2013, according to Akhgar Rahbeen the director of Cultural Commission of Ghazni- 2013, a body coordinates efforts to get Ghazni ready for 2013 festival.

In a conference held in Tripoli of Libya in 2007 by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IESCO), Ghazni was chosen as the cultural capital of Islamic civilization, Rahbeen said.

“It is a matter of pride for Afghans that Ghazni was chosen as the cultural capital of Islamic civilization and we are doing our best to make it ready by 2013 to receive and welcome the guests,” Rahbeen told Xinhua.

The provincial administration in conjunction with the Ministry for Information and Culture has been working hard over the past two years to complete series of uplift projects in Ghazni before 2013.

Streets in parts of the provincial capital Ghazni city have already been illuminated with power poles to keep the city lit at night and many high-rise buildings including business centers are under construction.

“The government has allocated 200 million U.S. dollars for Ghazni’s development projects which include building airport, roads, hotels, museum, industrial parks and renovation of historical monuments,” governor of Ghazni province Musa Khan Akbarzad told Xinhua.

Out of this budget, according to Akbarzad, 50 million U.S. dollars would be spent in construction and reconstruction of roads and streets inside Ghazni city to change the city face.

“The year of 2013 is significant for us. We may have hundreds of foreign guests in Ghazni in that year, so, we have to do our best to complete the projects as per schedule and welcome the guests,” Akbarzad said.

Locals feel happy with the development that Ghazni has made over the past couple of years.

“The face of Ghazni city has been dramatically changed over the past two years. Several roads and streets in and outside the Ghazni city have been constructed, reconstructed and many more uplift projects are under construction,” a resident of Ghazni city Syed Zukria Hashimi told Xinhua.

Although security has remained as the main challenge on the way to achieve the target in speculated time, the authorities in collaboration with the people have been working hard to meet the criteria for Ghazni to become the capital of Islamic culture and civilization.

The anti-government militants occasionally attack government interests and NATO-led troops. However, Rahbeen asserted that security situation has been very much improved in comparison to the past years.

With having minarets, shrines, old castles and forts reflecting Islamic civilizations and architectures dated to Sultan Mahmud dynasty 975-1187 AD, Ghazni has been regarded as one of cradles of Islamic civilizations, according to Rahbeen.

In addition to Afghan administration, the troops from U.S. and Poland, stationed in Ghazni province have also been working with local administration to make Ghazni ready for hosting national and international guests before 2013. Locals are of the view that completion of the uplift projects and hosting cultural festival in 2013 would in long run benefit Afghanistan as a whole and Ghazni’s inhabitants in particular.

“I am hopeful that high ranking delegations including some heads of states and heads of governments to attend the inauguration ceremony of festival held in Ghazni in 2013,” Rahbeen said with optimism.

Xinhua