LAHORE – On special instructions by President Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) announced the year 2011 as the year of national poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz. PAL is now making arrangements to commemorate the 100th birthday of Faiz. President Zardari is also taking interest in PAL’s activities regarding the celebrations of the Faiz year and has asked Fakhar Zaman, Chairman of PAL, to brief him about the arrangements taken in this regard.
President Zardari has especially said that this event should be as memorable as possible since Faiz was one of the greatest poets of the region. Fakhar Zaman informed the President that a special seminar would be held at PAL’s head office in Islamabad on February 10, 2011, while State minister for education, Ghulam Farid Kathia will be the chief guest for the seminar and Prof.
Fateh Muhammad Malik, Iftikhar Arif, Ishfaq Saleem Mirza and Sarwat Mohyuddin will present their papers. A special film on Faiz Ahmad Faiz would also be screened on this occasion. Its producer would be also present while a paper by scholar Helen Goodway, would be presented. All the four provincial branches of PAL also will hold conferences separately.
In Lahore Governor Punjab Sardar Lateef Khosa will preside over the conference while Mian Raza Rabbani will be its chief guest. IA Rehman, Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik, Saadat Saeed, Dr. Muhammad Arif, Hassan Jaffar Zaidi Ali, Madiha Hashmi, Syed Shabbir Hussain Shah and Sughra Sadaf will present their papers. In Karachi Sassi Palejo provincial minister for Culture will chair the conference while Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddique, Mazhar Jameel, Shamsher-ul-Haidery, Fateh Malik and Mazhar Jameel will present their papers.
In Peshawar the conference will be held under the chairmanship of Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, provincial minister for information. Saleem Raz Murtaza Shaheen, Iqbal Nasim Khattak, Suhail Anjum, Dr Zubaida Zulfiqar and Prof. Hassam Hur will present their papers. In Quetta Muhammad Younas Mullazai, provincial minister for information will preside over the conference while Dr. Shah Muhammad Marri, Dr. Munir Ahmed Badeni, Naimatullah Gichki, Dr Kahoor Khan and Dr Abdul Razzaq will present their papers.
Fakhar Zaman further said that PAL has already published a special issue of Quarterly “Adbiyat” on Faiz Ahmad Faiz and an introductory book on Faiz Ahmad Faiz under the series of “Makers of Pakistani Literature.” Tasleem Elahi Zulfi’s memoires “Faiz Ahmed Faiz in Beirut” is also in the pipeline and will be published soon. This book focuses on Faiz’s activities and routine in Beirut during his stay there as expatriate and in this way brings new aspects of Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s life in light for the first time.
