LLF concludes with thought-provoking conversations
February 22, 2016, 06:00
LAHORE: Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) 2016 culminated on Sunday after rejuvenating the literature lovers through talks by members of local and international intelligentsia.
In session, “Making Museums: Preserving National Heritage in Stressed Societies” Director of the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University in Afghanistan and author of five books on the Archaeology Nancy Dupree, Noor Agha Noori, Abdul Hafiz Latify were the panelists. Speaking on the occasion, Nancy, who has been associated with the restoration of the several historical and archaeological sites in Afghanistan, recalled her experience in restoring the Bamiyan Bhudda. She said the empty cave of Bamiyan where there used to be a statue of Bhudda must not be restored as it represents the graphic mindset and reality of society.
Hafiz Latify said terrorist groups like al Qaeda were destroying and wiping out the architectural heritage from Middle East and Afghanistan. Other speakers emphasised the need for governments to spend more money to save the decaying archaeological sites in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The session was moderated by writer and historian Ahmed Rasheed. In a rare appearance of a personality who had family terms with Quaid-I-Azam and was associated with Pakistan Movement, a session titled “Passha Haroon: Gilded Memories of Early Pakistan Year” was well attended.
Pasha Haroon is the niece of Agha Khan Three, Sultan Muhammad Shah, and was the daughter of Haji Abdullah Haroon, a prime figure of Pakistan Movement. Pasha Haroon said Quaid-I-Azam came to stay with them at their residence in Karachi, and in the 1946 election in undivided India, she voted ten to twelve times for Muslim League and when she informed Jinnah about her “rigging”, he replied, “I want Pakistan in a fair and real manner”.
“MA Jinnah ate simple food, ate toast and took a cup of tea in breakfast, in lunch fish, mashed or boiled potatoes,” she added. In the session on Central Asia, former president of Kyrgyzstan and the first woman in position. Roza Otunbayeva gave an interview to the moderator Farzana Saikh and said that Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan both must enhance economic ties. Otunbayeva said the Kyrgyz people want to avail the opportunities offered by Pakistan seaports at Arabian Sea. “The communist Russia with which we had we lived for centuries had contributed a lot in the success of everything good that happened to my country” she said while labelling herself a product of “good Soviet policies”.
There was also a session on emerging trends in Urdu fiction. Short story writer Bilal Minto, Irfan Ahmed Urfi, Musharraf Ali Farooqi were the panellists while the session was moderated by writer Asif Farrukhi. It emphasised that with the passage of time the topics, themes and trends in the Urdu fiction were changing. They said the hustle and bustle of today’s society has mobalised writers to write shortly and with a message. Sharing his experience of using social media in disseminating his short stories, Musharraf said that with the effective use of social media and little bit marketing of books, writers can reach their readers.
On the occasion, Life Time Achievement award was given to novelist Kashwar Naheed for her contributions to Urdu fiction.
Addressing the session “Foundering Freedom”, renowned Indian lawyer, author and writer AG Noorani said that civil liberties must prevail whether it be Pakistan or India. He said minorities of Pakistan should play their vital role in the development of their own rather than depending on the state. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Secretary General IA Rahman was also present while lawyer, human rights activist Asma Jahangir moderated the session.
On a separate note, IA Rehman said it is impossible to get justice under blasphemy charge, as the accused is usually unable to prove their innocence. He said that one of the major issues is that our political parties and politicians do not discuss such matters in parliament. In session Iqbal: Islam, Aesthetics and Post-colonialism, professor at Kings College Javed Majeed in conversation with Nasreen Rehman illustrated how Allama lqbal’s notion of an Islamicised selfhood is expressed through the interplay between poetic tradition and creative innovation in his verse. He said Iqbal defined an Islamic postcolonial agency against both Western colonialism and significant notions of self in Islamic mysticism.