Mystic Music Sufi Festival begins May 5

Festival will include some 400 artists from Pakistan, Afghanistan.

LAHORE:

The four-day 9th International Mystic Music Sufi Festival will start at Alhamra Cultural Complex on Thursday, Faizan Peerzada, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop creative director announced on Tuesday. Peerzada was addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club where he gave details of the upcoming festival. He said that the festival will feature sufi singers from Pakistan and Afghanistan only.

He said several other artists were expected to perform in the festival, but because of security concerns their performances were cancelled. “They aren’t coming anymore. At this point, I cannot disclose their names or the countries they were coming from,” he added.

The event has been organised with the help of the Royal Norwegian Embassy and tickets are available at Rs500. “We are holding this festival at a time when there are no sponsors. We did not request the government to waive off the entertainment tax, so 20 per cent of the ticket price will go to the Excise Department,” he said.

Over 400 artists and musicians will perform during the festival. It will continue from May 5 to May 8 (8pm to 12 midnight) daily at the Cultural Complex.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2011.



eN2pn�����ont-size:8.0pt; font-family:"FedraSerifA Book";mso-bidi-font-family:"FedraSerifA Book"; color:black;letter-spacing:-.25pt'>He also stressed that journalists act responsibly. “Freedom comes with a big responsibility and it is a privilege that should be looked after rather than misused,” he said.

 

Columnist Ayaz Amir said the press was far freer today than when Pakistan was ruled by dictators like Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Yahya Khan. “Those were the dark days for journalists that today’s journalists cannot imagine,” he said. However, he added, journalists were not paid enough, and sometimes their employers withheld their salaries. He also highlighted the difficulties faced by journalists in war zones like the Tribal Areas, where they were at risk of being killed.

Journalists Hussain Naqi and Asad Sahi and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairman IA Rehman were also on the panel of speakers at the seminar. It concluded with a critique of journalism students’ works by members of the panel.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2011.