People turned out in droves for the concluding day of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) that ended with thought provoking and captivating sessions on shared literary heritage, regional literature, unified national curriculum and such.
The third and final day of the 13th Karachi Literature Festival ended with a huge rush, apparently literature lovers did not want to keep themselves away from the interesting sessions of the last day.
An unexpected but pleasant addition to the international speakers on the last day of the festival was the participation of renowned Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah in an online session, during which he shared personal stories about his life and film career.
While speaking about the importance of literature to his craft, Shah acknowledged the role of poets such as Mirza Ghalib and Faiz Ahmed Faiz in his creative journey and emphasised his love for literature festivals.
Oxford University Press Managing Director Raheela Baqai said, "KLF aims to introduce the best of Pakistan to the world and the best of the world to Pakistan."
The last day of the festival started with special sessions on Sindhi, Punjabi and Balochi literature. The panels discussed the best representation of the culture of each province in the arts, regional prose and poetry as a valuable addition to Urdu literature, as well as the role of the government in the promotion of arts.
Another interesting session outlined recent new artifacts in the ancient Indus Valley. French Archaeological Mission in the Indus Basin Director Dr Aurore Didier explained how the new fieldwork sheds light on the architectural design of civilization and the primitive industry. Dr Didier said that there is scope for work to discover more cultural relics in the Indus Valley. The third day of the event included a special talk on two pillars of the state, the judiciary and the media as well as the important role of the country's development: school education.
Legal experts in the session on the We the People and the Constitution of Pakistan discussed the points as to why the legal protections enshrined in the Constitution were not available to most citizens. They lamented why justice was only available to the elite.
Read: KLF brings enlightening second day
News Journey: From Pen to Keyboard to Camera: Another panel highlights the development of media from print to digital platforms. The panelists pointed out that in the digital age where the flow of information has increased tremendously, there has also been a major challenge with regard to disinformation.
Mar yam Chughtai, D i r e c t o r, N at i o n a l Curriculum Council, Managing Director, Oxford University Press, Fatima Dada, Educationist, Dr Farid Panjwani, Dean, Institute for Educational Development and Executive Vice President, Citizen Foundation, Akhtar Abbas emphasized that inequality in society was affecting the most backward students. They also discussed the challenges of the digital age and the best ways to ensure learning in children.
Dr Chughtai said that the uniform national curriculum had two main objectives: to stop the habit of learning by memorizing and to move towards conceptual education.
Book launch
In a discussion on his book Betrayal, well-known crime fiction writer Omar Shahid Hamid explained the intricacies of the intelligence profession. "In the interest of the nation, one often has to betray one's friends or values," he said. The last day of the KLF included a keynote address by author Victoria Schofield. Participants enjoyed Anwar Maqsood's satire and humor, as well as the Qawali of Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad.
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