HARTFORD, CT, US: This is with reference to Bina Shah’s article of February 17, titled “KLF post-mortem”. The next time the KLF happens it should be held at The Sheraton or the Pearl Continental. Carlton is too close to the old slums of Akhtar Colony, Qayyumabad, Gizri, and that modern ugly slum called Zamzama.
And it is not the case of quite a bit of Urdu, it was too much English. No self-respecting nation will name a literature festival after its city, and then conduct the whole affair in English (mind you, in bad English and in bad desi accents) with the main dominant language of Pakistan (and I dare say, of Bollywood) being treated as yateem and miskeen. And, it didn’t have to be all Urdu. Other languages spoken in Karachi are Sindhi, Pashtu, Punjabi, Balochi and Gujrati.
I would like to know exactly how many people showed up from the English speaking countries. Five, ten, hundred? Indians don’t count since most of them watch and understand Bollywood movies. Similarly, Hanif Kureishi doesn’t count since he must speak Urdu as well.
All in all, it was a good effort but we should try to have some backbone and some self-respect next time. Or why doesn’t the British Council just call it the English Language Festival?
BL
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2012.
