Fourth Sindh Literature Festival concludes

Lack of academic freedom in varsities contributes to extremism in country, says Rabbani

The fourth edition of the Sindh Literature Festival concluded on Sunday at the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi.

The last day of the three-day event saw musical performances, book launches and different panel discussions.

Speaking at a session titled, 'Jamhooriat Jee Golha - In Quest of Democracy' Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Raza Rabbani said that one of the factors contributing to extremism in the country was the abolition of academic freedom in varsities. There should be student union elections, he said, regretting that despite his party leading the government in Sindh, the Charter of Democracy could not be implemented in the country.

With regards to the recently held elections in the upper house of parliament, Rabbani said that it remained to be seen whether the judiciary upholds the decision of the presiding officer and rejects the seven controversial votes as well. The past opinion of the judiciary has been clear in this regard, added Rabbani, who has previously served as the Senate chairperson.

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Separately, at another panel titled, 'Stop Child Abuse - Save Children Save Nation,' Sindh Inspector-General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar said that a lack of resources was not the problem but technologies being used in his department needed to be upgraded. A new project, named Zainab, has been launched in collaboration with non-governmental agencies to help the police trace missing children, he said.

It is difficult to reach people in rural areas and hence an app has been set up, he said, adding that in the past year around 600 cases pertaining to missing children were lodged and around 400 children were recovered.

The Sindh Literature Festival came to a close with performances by Saif Samejo, Shahla Gul and NAFS Band.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2021.