Pulling large crowds on its first day, the Lahore Literary Festival offered a wide array of authors talking about different issues.
The major attractions of the day were renowned novelist Muhammad Hanif, academician Ayesha Jalal and authors like Khalid Ahmed and Tariq Ali. Like its very name, it was a sight for a festival with each hall housing a different talk with renowned panelists and bookstalls set up inside each one. The discussions, which were mainly centered on literary themes, also underlined current political issues facing not only Pakistan but other countries also.
The panelists also discussed how the Pakistani literature was being read across the globe. The inaugural came with enlightening speeches by foreign authors and keynote speakers from the intelligentsia.
Tariq Ali, expressing his views in Politics and Culture: Past and Present, highlighted various phases of the political development and how the country had reached its present state. The first-ever LLF was conceived keeping in mind the legacy and culture heritage of this city. Lahore has been known as the cultural capital of Pakistan and for centuries it has been associated with great literature, art, theater and music.
The main aim of LLF is to revive the spirit of art and creativity in Lahore. It aspires to reestablish Lahore as the cultural heartbeat of Pakistan and enrich the city by creating an institutional platform for forecasting and furthering Lahore’s literary traditions.
The LLF is about bringing together, discussing and celebrating the diverse and pluralistic literary tradition that distinguishes Lahore as a city of arts, activism and generally, of big ideas. The festival is about focusing on ‘literature’ as encompassing a variety of genres–from fiction writing to history, politics, arts, architecture, culture and music.
Sharing his experiences on writing resistance literature Muhammad Hanif said how “actual” resistance was only political while the rest was only “propaganda”. “Sometimes in our society the most basic resistance becomes being able to name someone,” Hanif said to an attentive audience.
The two days programme includes book launches, exhibitions, readings and penal discussions on Urdu and English literature. In addition, the festival is also features desi food stalls and musical programs.
The scheduled panels, conversations and book readings include the launch of Nadeem Aslam’s ‘The Blind Man’s Garden’, legacy of political Autobiographies, the Holy warrior in Pakistani Cinema, Discovering Pakistan’s English–language poetry, language and storytelling in 21st Century, Architecture of Urbanism and Aesthetics.
Taking to Pakistan Today, Hamid Haroon said, ”We must accept that the military has always curbed the freedom of expression. We always think that because of terrorism, we are not able to express anything but this concept is wrong. The event like LLF provides the people of Lahore to express their views and participate in the freedom of expression.”
“The new generation is heading towards introducing a new culture, which is good sign but they must be aware of our cultural roots as well,” he added.
Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi added such literary events are very important because Lahore is one of the historic and cultural cities of the world and is under the wave of terrorism.
A participant from Italy, Silvia Dinathle said, “This is an amazing event and I love the discussions and every aspect of the event is very wonderful. Lahore is a cultural city and the image of Pakistan is completely opposite to what we have in our minds in the west.”
Audience included retired and serving bureaucrats, politicians and a large number of students, teachers and aspiring writers.
i do not understand the allegoric significance of umrao jan and pakistan as a modern islamic state. i am confused where in the 21st century a country has a blasphemous law against its citizens. minorities go unprotected. the simple history of the land is subjugated to negativity whilst the world over heralds their long lost past bringing it into the modern psyche.. women are disrepected and violated in a male dominated society. please if i in anyway am blindfolded please clear my vision on this topic. many fundamentalist get even by killing innocent people on the streets to get their point across. this seems like barbarism rather than modernisation or is this relative to the laws of islamist and the need to eradicate infidels. i need another view.
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