Quetta Literary Festival kicks off

A two-day Quetta Literary Festival kicked off at the Balochistan University of Information Technology Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) on Monday.

This is the third literary festival that is being held at the BUITEMS.

Prominent literati including Amjad Islam Amjad, Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra and Anwar Maqsood participated in the event. They spoke to a large audience including the students, intelligentsia, academicians and people belonging to different walks of life. Five books were unveiled on the first day of the festival.

Discussions on various social, political, journalistic, and educational issues were held while poetry in Urdu, Brahui, Balochi, and Pashto languages was read.

The festival was formally inaugurated by chief guest on the occasion General Officer Commanding 41 Division Major General Salman Moin.

BUITEMS Vice-Chancellor Ahmed Farooq Bazai, former governor Justice (retd) Amanullah Yasinzai, former Senator Javed Jabbar, economist Dr Qaiser Bengali, Professor Asim Sajjad, Adeel Afzal, Niloofar Qazi and others were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

Addressing the function, Major General Moin hailed the initiative to hold dialogues on social, political, economic and societal aspects.

He said there was no dearth of talent in Balochistan and that the BUITEMS was an example it.

Speaking on the occasion, Quetta Literary Festival Head Dr Faisal Khan maintained that it was an honour for the BUITEMS to host the occasion with eminent personalities from across the country.

He said more than 150 guests would participate in the 46 sessions of the two-day festival. "This literary festival is also unique because all the people are volunteering it. We want to promote knowledge, literature, humanity, peace and love," he added.

Author Aftab Alam's book was also presented to the BUITEMS vice- chancellor on the occasion.

Discussions were also held on the 18th amendment, challenges faced by Journalism in Balochistan, Islamic art and architecture, civilisation, history of the province, higher education in Pakistan, Balochi handicrafts, music and society and other subjects. A special session was also held with Anwar Maqsood.

A show of thesis by the BUITEMS Fine Arts Department students and a photo exhibition on wildlife was organised by the Balochistan Rural Support Programme.

Books by Barkat Shah Kakar, Rabia Baloch, Gham Khwar Hayat, Mohsin Shakeel, Dr Abdul Rauf Rafiqi were also launched.

The festival also organised special activities for children including calligraphy, magic shows and others.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2022.