Karachi Conference to kick off on Friday

Critical discourse, research on the city to be featured during three-day event

KARACHI: The Fifth International Karachi Conference will be held from October 27 to 29 at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi. The three-day conference will showcase current research and critical discourse on Karachi.

"The conference will not only examine the questions that define the city's inner life but will also host discussions by research scholars and participants on global questions concerning social ecology, environmental degradation and urban change," said Dr Asma Ibrahim, an archaeologist and president of the Karachi Conference.

Addressing a joint press conference along with archaeologist Dr Kaleem Lashari, educationist Romana Husain and Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi President Ahmed Shah, Dr Ibrahim briefed participants about the objectives and activities of the conference.

"As in previous years, the conference will begin with a film festival on the diverse aspects of Karachi," she said, adding that scholars will also discuss various topics including solid waste management, proposed mass transit schemes, the city's changing skyline, pollution, threats to Karachi's heritage buildings and encroachments on drains.



"The conference will also look into the historic role of Karachi with particular reference to it being the first capital of the country and home to our founding father Mohammad Ali Jinnah," remarked Dr Ibrahim.

"Karachi is one of the largest cities in the world and the region has a rich heritage with archaeological remains stretching back to the Neolithic period,” said Dr Lashari. "The city contains Sufi shrines dating back to the eighth century and there are a number of Hindu temples and Jewish and Christian graveyards," he said, adding that Sufis and saints owned and loved this city and examples can be seen from their shrines located in various areas of the metropolis.

According to experts, during the conference new rehabilitation projects in Karachi's Saddar will be examined which include Empress Market and the renovation of a 100-year-old home in Amil Colony. An international scholar will also present a paper on the Amils of Sindh, one of the oldest communities of Karachi.

The conference will continue at the Arts Council from 10am to 6pm. Shah stressed the need to preserve the historic and cultural identity of the city and said the conference should revolve around it.  "People are doing politics on the city’s votes, but we all must own it," he said.