International Urdu Conference to run from Dec 9 to 12

Sessions will be held to honour and discuss works of Iqbal, Sahir Ludhianvi, Sheikh Ayaz, others

KARACHI:

The 14th International Urdu Conference will kick off on December 9 bringing four days of enlightening sessions on language, literature, culture, and history to the residents of the metropolis.

Owing to the post-Covid situation, many guests from India, the UK and the US and Europe are likely to join the moot online, said Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) Karachi President Muhammad Ahmad Shah. Besides Urdu, the conference will also have sessions on the Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pashtu and Seraiki poetry, prose and journalism.

Sessions will be held to honour and discuss works of Iqbal, Sahir Ludhianvi, Sheikh Ayaz, Ibn-e-Insha, Ada Jafri and Mushtaq Ahmad Yousifi, the ACP chief said.

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Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah will open the literature festival on Thursday, December 9, at 3pm at ACP Karachi, he said addressing a press conference at ACP on Friday. The ACP head said that an evening dedicated to the iconic poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz titled Sham-e-Faiz will be held on the first day of the conference along with a musical programme.

Ahmad Shah said that this year is the 75th anniversary of Pakistan's independence so this conference has been attributed to it. We strive to develop the languages and cultures of different provinces. The great intellectuals of world literature have been invited to this conference. Those who could not come will join us on the digital system. He said that the Urdu conference has now become a tradition. First, it was started by Arts Council and now it is being held in different places. Such conferences are necessary to keep the culture and language alive which is the life of nations.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2021.