Daily Times

Unifying a deeply polarized society cannot be done more effectively by any other tool except art, drama, music, and theatre. The arts council of Pakistan in Karachi has continued to play a momentous and cherishing role in solidifying the existence of arts by promoting, highlighting, and teaching it.

The institute served as a momentous change when it comes to stimulating young minds towards arts and nurturing them to contribute to its advancement and further enrichment.

It is making a transformative impact on our culture by preserving it and encouraging our people to know and explore the greatest treasure left to us by our literary legends along with the art being created and compiled currently. It has always been in the frontline to keep arts and artists alive through different programs, conferences, discussions, and shows etc. where the artists are invited, and their art pieces are displayed to the public.

These pieces reflect upon the precariousness of our culture and societal values, the evident and underlying multitude of complications and obstacles that are being put in the way of progressiveness by various elements of terror and extremism. The arts council has always been involved in propagation of the sense of inclusivity and peace and urges all people to live, prosper, praise, and create art together.

Last weekend, the arts council welcomed artists from all over the world for the Fifteenth International Urdu Conference. Renowned artists, prolific writers and poets, responsible journalists, amazing singers etc. were hosted at the arts council and the series of different sessions were arranged where conversations, analysis, arguments, and dialogues were held between the speakers and the audience were given an opportunity to interact, question, or share their viewpoints with the speakers and other esteemed guests.

The conference kickstarted on Thursday afternoon, 1st December 2022. The program was commenced with the preliminary addresses including a lead-in speech by the President of Art Council Sir Muhammad Ahmed Shah followed by the welcoming remarks by the Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, and a note of thanks by Ejaz Ahmed Farooqui at the ending.

Following the welcome addresses, there were introductory articles by Nasir Abbas and Alex Belem (from AKU London). After the prefatory, two sessions were held on the first day. One session was on “Iqbal and the Nation” with the special participation by Nasira Iqbal. The second program took place on “Spectacular Urdu Literature” by Sir Zia Mohiuddin. The day ended with the qawwali by Ayaz Fareed and Abu Muhammad Qawwal, which was highly enjoyed by the participants.

The second day started earlier, around 11 a.m. with the first session presided over by Rauf Parekh. There was a second session on the topic of “Urdu Fiction in the 21st century” presided over by Asad Muhammad Khan and Zahida Hina. The third session was on “The Pure Literature” by Iftikhar Arif and Aliya Imam.

“Three poets” moderated by Pirzada Salman was the fourth session of the day. Around 4:30 pm, fifth session focused on a talk about Amjad Islam Amjad- Shair-e-khush-nawa. On Pashto Language and Literature, a session was moderated by Fouzia Khan. For the sixth session, “The Two Centuries of Urdu Literature,” the invitees were Mehmood Shaam, Saeed Naqvi, Sohail Warraich, Mazhar Abbas and Tahir Najmi.

A session on “Saraiki Language and Literature in the 21st century” was moderated by Sadia Shakeel. Then, there was a book launch of “Kuliyat-e- Jalib” presided over by Zehra Nigah. The second day ended with a mushaira presided over by Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui with renowned poets from around the globe. The audience tremendously admired all the poets and their works.

On the third day of conference, there were plenty of insightful and significantly informative sessions on “Urdu Literature in 21st century” presided over by Iftikhar Arif, Amjad Islam Amjad and Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, moderated by Shakeel Jazib. “Literature for Children in the 21st century” was moderated by Ali Hasan Sajid.

In the afternoon, there was a session on “Urdu Ki Nayi Bastiyan” moderated by Ghazanfar Hashmi and presided over by Ashfaq Hussain. A book was launched titled “Muhammad (PBUH) In Modern Times” by Uxi Mufti. There was another book that gathered huge praise from the audience.

This book was titled “Sar-o-Barg-e-Arzo” written by a renowned poet Madam Tanveer Anjum. The book was warmly received and thoroughly adored by the speakers. This launch was moderated by Nasira Zuberi. After 3 pm, there were session which discussed “The Problems and Current Situation of Education in Pakistan” moderated by Fauzia Khan and debate on “Punjabi Language and Literature in the 21st century” moderated by Asma Shirazi.

Following these sessions were the book launches of “Versa” by Doctor Fatima Hasan and “Light of the Shadows” by Farhat Parveen. Uzma Al-Karimi moderated a session centered on the discussion about women and our social attitudes.

There was another session on the book launches by Rauf Parekh, Akhlaq Ahmed, Doctor Fatima Hasan and Amir Bashir. A session on “Balochi Language and Literature in the 21st century” was moderated by Waheed Anwar. In the evening, there were multiple sessions on the list like “Pakistan today and tomorrow” by Hamid Mir and a book launch moderated by Faheem uz Zama Khan. The book is titled “Pakistan Left Review Then and Now.”

There was a big mushaira program organized, at the end of the day, with many poets and audiences participating in thousands. The program was presided by Iftikhar Arif, and the guest of honor was the Governor of Sindh, Kamran Khan Tessori.

On the fourth day, the conference resumed with the session on “Urdu Criticism in the 21st Century” moderated by Iqbal Khursheed. At 12 pm, second session on “The Hundred Years of Shaukat Siddiqui” took place, moderated by Fazil Jamili. In the next session, Zehra Nigah and Iftikhar Arif reflected on the personality of “Mushtaq Ahmed Yousafi.”

Then, there was a session on “Punjabi Language and Literature in the 21st century” moderated by Ayyub Shaikh and book launches which were moderated by Abbas Mumtaz. In the evening, there was a session about “New Demands and Requirements from the Modern Media” and following this session was the discussion on “Sukhn-e-Iftikhar by Iftikhar Arif” moderated by Ambreen Haseeb.

At 5pm, there was a program on “The Situation of Art in the 21st Century” moderated by Kaif Ghaznavi. Towards the end of the conference, there was a session on “21st century Pakistan” by Anwar Maqsood. The four-day conference concluded with the journey of dance by famous groups.

The four-days Urdu Conference was another milestone achieved by the arts council. It brought different literary personalities together, encouraged them to share thought provoking ideas and literature for the people to ponder upon and analyze. Art is the science from which all intellectual thoughts and concepts sprout and grow.

This is the only conceivable way through which we can give shape to the substantial growth potential of our youth. The Arts council is serving us as a massive assistance and cements a long-lasting relationship between the artists and the public.

The management team and the special efforts by Sir Muhammad Ahmad Shah and Doctor Fatima Hasan deserve our appreciation. They have become symbols of the revival of our past glorious art. The way in which they are steering the arts council shows their tiring struggle and mission-driven policy for the promotion of arts and literature.

They intend to take such programs to different cities stretching from Gwadar to Muzaffarabad for those people who only afford to attend such programs in their vicinity. The basic purpose of the policy is to move our society from collective tragedy to collective reckoning by dissecting all the root causes of problems we face today and curate democratic solutions with the participation of arts in our society.

The agenda of the arts council includes many productive initiatives which will bring good changes in our country, leading us towards the peaceful and progressive destiny we all aspire for. The support by the Sindh Government shows their resolve and commitment towards arts and literature.