PESHAWAR: Speakers on the concluding day of literary festival here on Sunday urged youth to promote the culture of dialogue towards generating a healthy debate in the society.

They said that youth enjoyed more space for free speech but it should be used with objectivity and futuristic vision for an effective social impact.

Panellists in general were all praise for awareness, critical thinking and spirit of youth andasked them to come up with innovative thought to counter negative propaganda.

Youth activists, university graduates and local journalists showed up in the second day sessions of the festival arranged by Culture, Arts, Literature, Development Organisation (Clado), a not for profit body.

Bookstalls, traditionalfoods outlets and art exhibition were part of the two-day event.

Senior journalist Wusatullah Khan while delivering a talk on `journalism, challenges and responsibilities` at an interactive session said that reporters should voice concerns of people with the strength of authenticity loaded with accurate facts and figures and should not propagate incorrect information. He appreciated media for responsible response to current Pak-India escalation.Syed Irfan Ashraf in his remarks pointed out that journalism with a futuristic vision and professional spirit could help to build a peace narrative with substance and strong message to reflect public sentiments.

The responsibilities of journalists in the face of modern day challenges had increased manifold but a genuine spirit for becoming voice of people could bring about a positive change, he added.

During another engaging session titled literature, culture and history` panellists shed light on significance of evolutionary process of history alongside literary and cultural trends. They observed that societies were shaped through culture of debate and reason. They said that youth should play their due role to promote peace narrative throughparticipating in healthy activities.

Prof Hanif Khalil and Prof Tajuddin Tajwar dwelt upon literary and cultural landscape of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and asked youth to preserve and revive values and traditions through such events.

A session was devoted to an interactive session on `resources and issues of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa` in which panellists including Shandana Gulzar, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah and Shams Momand shared their views with the participants.

They said that KP youth had the potential to boost image of people and country. At another session titled `literature and politics` panellists showcased different aspects of common grounds of literary trends and political system.