The 9th Islamabad Literary Festival 2023, in collaboration with Oxford University Press and Capital Development Authority (CDA), is going on in full swing at Gandhara Citizen Club F-9 Park. Famous writers, poets, artists, senior journalists, politicians, and citizens are also participating in the literary fair. On the second day of the fair, various programs were presented to highlight the importance of literature and Pakistani culture.
The second day of the festival started at 11 am, and the program “کچھ شعر فقط ان کو سنانے کے لیے” was presented. Renowned poets Mehboob Zafar and Nasira Zuberi presented their words. Similarly, at 12 o’clock, the program “Dark Side of Journalism in Pakistan” was presented in which famous journalist Hamid Mir, senior politician Afrasiab Khattak, Saba Gul Khattak, and Syed Irfan Ashraf participated.
In this program, the problems and challenges faced by journalists in Pakistan were highlighted. The program “Qeedi by Umar Shahid” was also presented at the literary fair, in which Umar Shahid Hamid and Inam Nadeem gave a discussion and highlighted that different types of languages are spoken in our country. But the secret of national development lies in staying connected with one’s culture and language.
Apart from this, the program “Democracy, Bureaucracy, and Judiciary: Going Beyond the Colonial Entanglement” was presented by the well-known jurist Hamid Khan, Fawzia M. Senior journalist and analyst Zahid Hussain, along with Sana, highlighted the importance of the role of democracy, bureaucracy, and judiciary on the society and said that democracy, impartial judiciary, and bureaucracy play a vital role in the development of any country and nation.
After that, at 3:30 PM, the “Development Pathways: India Pakistan and Bangladesh at 75” program was presented. Ayesha Ghos Pasha, Khalid Banuri, and Ishrat Hussain discussed the 75-year-old development and success journey of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
Additionally, the comedy program “Laugh and Live” was also presented. Which was well received by the program’s audience, and the film “Kamli” by the well-known director Sarmad Khost was also screened.
Later, Pakistan’s War and Alternate History program was also presented in which Tariq Rehman and Moeed Yusuf expressed their views. In the same way, “محمل و جرس: جرس فریادمی دارود کہ بربندید محمل ہا از جوش ملیح آبادی” program was presented, in which the country’s famous poets Iftikhar Arif, Tabsum Malih Abadi, Farrukh Jamal, Najiba Arif, Abbas Tabish along with Hori Noorani paid homage to Josh Malih Abadi.
Then Sadia Akhtar, Muniza Shamsi participated in Ink and Empowerment: Women in Publishing program. Similarly, well-known social worker Shahid Mehmood, Vinny Press, Gibran Jamshed along with Faisal Bari expressed their views on Al in Education: Empowering Minds, Shaping the Future of Learning program. The participants of the program highlighted the role of women in the flourishing of literature.
The participants also had a detailed discussion on the difficulties and challenges faced by women in writing. The participants said that women writers have an advantage over male writers in certain fields because their literature includes personal experiences that cannot be attributed to men and the “Evolution of Urdu Fiction” was presented in which the country’s leading writer Hafeez Khan, Hamid Shahid, Asim Butt along with Asghar Nadeem Syed expressed their views regarding Urdu literature.
After that, Is Pakistan Underdeveloped because it did not invest enough in Human Capital program, and which well-known analysts Samia Liaquat Ali Khan, Asad Syed, and S. Akbar Zaidi expressed their views. An event was also organized by Mehboob Zafar.
Famous poets of the country including Ahmed Atta, Shakeel Jazeb, Farrukh Yar, Akhtar Raza Salimi, Ghazal Ansari, Nasira Zuberi, Akhtar Usman, Haris Khaliq, Abbas Tabish, Yasmin Hameed, Tariq Naeem, Izharul Haque, Jalil Ali, Ehsan Akbar. Samit Kishore Naheed presented his words.
Apart from this, on the second day of the Islamabad Literary Festival, Dandelion Blooms: The Evaluation of Islamabad program was presented in Amjad Islam Amjad Hall. Similarly, in the Destined to Fail: Democracy and State Building Experiment in Post-Taliban Afghanistan program at the Literary Fair, well-known columnists Zahid Hussain and Saira Aqeel discussed in detail the challenges facing the region and Pak-Afghan relations.
In this literary festival, Umar Shahid Hamid along with Maniza Shamsi, Taha Kher, Arusa Kanwal expressed their views in Pakistani Prose and Verse: Exploring Contemporary English Literature program. Similarly, in the Grieving for Pigeons: Twelve Stories of Lahore program, Zubair Ahmed discussed in detail the historical importance of Lahore with Sarwat Mohiuddin.
After that, Lahore’s Lost Legacy: Unveiling the Life and Contributions of Sir Ganga Ram program was presented in which Tehmina Aziz Ayub along with Yaqoob Bangash shed light on the services of the Lahore City Hospital named after Sir Ganga Ram.
Sahar Mirza had a discussion with Sharif Awan on the synonymous traditions of Pakistan and India in the program The Other in the Mirror: Stories from India and Pakistan at the literary festival. After that, a program was organized on the theme of Fair Assessments: Ensuring Equity and Excellence in Education, along with Saima Anwar, Andrew Combe, Ghulam Ali Malha, Hariyat Gardner, besides a detailed discussion, a program was also held on the topic of Literature and Journalism: A Disconnect. Senior journalists Asma Shirazi, Amir Ghori, Haris Khaliq, along with Makhdoom Amar Aziz highlighted the importance of the relationship between Urdu literature and journalism.
Similarly, in the program Other Days, Arshad Waheed, a well-known economic analyst, had a discussion with Waqar Masood on the country’s economic situation. Later, in the Legacy of Oneness program, Amardeep Singh also presented his project, which was well received by the program attendees.
Islamabad Literary Festival concluded on Sunday. Various programs were presented on the third and last day of the literary fair.
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