Daily Times

With the culmination of the Adab Festival in Karachi, Pakistan now has at least four major literature and cultural related events that have become annual features in several cities. This is in stark contrast to the dearth of such public activities about a decade or so ago. The credit for this resurgence of literary and cultural activity goes squarely to the many resilient individuals and groups in our vibrant civil society. These festivals have created a cultural scene where none existed in the mainstream. They have tried their best to be inclusive, giving space to communities and to issues not commonly discussed in the mainstream media. While there may be differences among individual festivals, most to an extent now do make an effort to engage non-English speaking audiences as well. There are sessions on the literature of Urdu as well as regional languages, and on our local cultural traditions which are accessible and needed at the same time.

However, as these festivals become a regular feature of public life in our cities, perhaps, the organisers and the participants can now reflect on their successes and look for challenges to be overcome in years to come.

Given the purpose of these activities is to rejuvenate public life and to rekindle a spirit of intellectualism in the society, the organisers must reflect on whether or not they are content with the scale at which these festivals are taking place at the moment. The fact of the matter is that our cities have expanded over the years in a way that mobility for the poor and the lower-middle classes is not easy. Besides, the vagaries of the everyday life are such that many working men and women, minority communities, transgender citizens and other marginalised groups may not even be aware of these festivals happening in the first place. Perhaps, the task now is to take these festivals to these marginalised groups. The organisers and other concerned in the civil society must seriously consider the proposition of holding cultural events, perhaps at a smaller scale, in neighbourhoods of the groups invisible in the mainstream. This may seem to be an ambitious move, but its impact will be way more far-reaching.

It will enable the participants to truly connect with groups whose plight and whose causes are frequently taken up in conversations at literary and cultural events. It will also be in the spirit of public engagement of the kind initiated by progressive writers, poets, and intellectuals in the country’s history. *

Published in Daily Times, February 5^th 2019.