LAHORE – Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) Chairman Fakhar Zaman on Saturday returned to Pakistan after attending the meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Award 2009 in Nepal. He was nominated for the meeting by the PM. Zaman said that in Nepal he met a number of scholars and writers to whom he gave a briefing about PAL and its working. The PAL chairman said that he also met the VC of the Nepal Academy of Letters during which they decided to translate literatures of both countries into their respective national languages and initiate a programme of writers’ exchange. They also decided to promote literature, culture and folklore between Islamabad and Katmandu.
Zaman also informed Nepali writers about PAL’s future projects of a literary channel and FM radio. He also briefed them about the International Conference on Sufism and Peace and explained that the conference is being held to fulfill former PM and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s wish, which she expressed in her inaugural speech on the occasion of the last international conference in 1995.
The upcoming International Conference on Sufism and Peace will be inaugurated by President Asif Ali Zardari in which writers and scholars from Pakistan and abroad will present their papers in various sessions of the conference. Zaman said that it’s a pleasure for him that writer Tulasi Diwasa has accepted PAL’s invitation to participate in the conference. The VC of Nepal Academy of Letters presented Zaman a set of his institution’s publications while Zaman also presented a set of PAL’s publications to him.
