Progress is impossible without education and healthcare, prominent social figure and head of Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplant (SIUT) Dr Syed Adeebul Hasan Rizvi said at the inaugural session of the 14th Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) at a local hotel on Friday.
Dr Rizvi said that the nation should focus on meeting the basic needs of the people. "Our nation can prosper only when we focus on education and healthcare," he said. "Being a doctor, I first diagnose the problems that our people are facing. Do you think if our children are hungry and have no clothes on their bodies, will they be motivated to study?"
Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman in her keynote address said that censorship stifled literature while calling for diversity in consumption of thoughts and ideas. "It is important to read books of other religions for the development of Urdu literature," Rehman said.
She said Urdu writers should also create works depicting plight of the people affected by climate change and variations of weather patterns.
Dramatist, short story writer and poet Nurul Huda Shah talked about literature with respect to contemporary culture and the values of the region.
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the driving force behind the festival. Its managing director, Arshad Saeed Husain, talked about this year's theme: People, Planet, Opportunities reflects the ever-challenging times.
HBL's Ali Habib said that his company was glad to be associated with events that promoted critical thinking.
US Consul General Nicole Theriot, British Acting Deputy High Commissioner Martin Dowson, French consul general Alexis Chahtahtinsky and Italian Consul General Danilo Giurdanella attended the event as special guests and also expressed their views.
Seven books were shortlisted for the KLF Getz Pharma Urdu Prose Award, including Irfan Javed's Ajaib Khana (Museum), Dr Aurangzeb Niazi's Environmental Perspective and Shaheen Abbasi's Kahani Kafir. Irfan Javed's book "Ajaib Khana" was declared the winner. The opening ceremony ended with Farah Yasmeen Sheikh's wonderful performance on "Raqs e Shukr", a tribute to Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Iqbal Bano. The first session entitled "Sukhan-e-Iftikhar: Kulyat-e-Iftikhar" highlighted the beautiful words of renowned writer and poet Iftikhar Arif. The panellists of this discussion included Nasir Abbas Nayyar, Ziaul Hasan and Hoori Noorani
The second session of the first day saw the launch of Nadeem Hussain's book "A Bank is Born". Ishrat Hussain, Syed Saleem Raza, Shamshad Akhtar, Nadeem Hussain and Akbar Zaidi discussed Nadeem Hussain's book. There was a session on English poetry in which Kirsha Copes, Sofia Bano, Meena Shehzad, Jeeva Haroon, Maha Hashmi, Zarmina Raza, Haris Khaliq, Shireen Haroon and Adrian Hussain took part.
The three-day festival features over 60 events including sessions on geopolitical challenges and climate change, panel discussion, book launches, and photo exhibition among other literary activities.
The remaining two days will also see dialogues, discussions, readings, performances, and an art exhibition. A book fair is part of the festival.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2023.
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