LAHORE – A 17-member delegation including a renowned singer Ila Arun, arrived from India at the Wagah Border on Thursday, in connection with Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s birth anniversary’s festivities and seminars held in Lahore. They were received by Faiz’s daughters; Moneeza and Salima Hashmi.
While talking to the press, Arun said Faiz was a hard hitting poet, who was associated with some beautiful verses and was known all over the sub continent. “He is a renowned and well respected poet,” she said. “Coming to Lahore to attend this festival is a personal honour for me. It seems as if I have come to the Kumbh mela, which is the height of religious fervour I have seen,” she said.
Arun, one of the strong-voiced singers in India, is expected to present her encounter with Faiz and her impression of him, much like many others will do. She is also expected to sing some of Faiz’s works. “I have come here to understand Faiz’s poetry much better,” she says.
“We come from India in this delegation and we come with nothing but love and peace from across the border. Activists, artistes, writers and poets are perhaps the most powerful people who can change the images between both countries about each other. The only difference between India and Pakistan is the demarcation of the border; otherwise we are the same people,” she said.
She applauded the works of Reshma, Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan among several other artists from Pakistan. She also said that she was pleased to be in Lahore and it definitely came up to the famous quotation, ‘one who has not seen Lahore has seen nothing.’ PAL Faiz seminar: Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), Punjab Branch has arranged a seminar on Feb 11 at 2 pm at Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture, 1-Qaddafi Stadium to commemorate 100th birthday of national poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
The seminar will be inaugurated by Punjab Governor Sardar Mohammad Latif Khan Khosa. Gujrat University Prof Syed Shabbir Hussain Shah, GC University Prof Dr Saadat Saeed, Prof Mohammad Arif, Dr Sughra Sadaf, IA Rehman, Senator Raza Rabbani, Altaf Ahmad Qureshi, Dr Ali Madeeh Hashmi and Hassan Jafar Zaidi will read their papers on various aspects of colonialism with reference to Faiz’s poetry.
The paper reading session will be presided over by an eminent scholar and International Islamic University, Islamabad Rector Fateh Mohammad Malik. Scholars, writers, poets, university and college teachers and students will participate in the seminar.
