Governor raises Arts Council grant to Rs35m

Karachi
Dr Ishratul Ibad has increased the annual grant of Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP), Karachi from Rs 28 million to Rs 35 million.
The Sindh governor after administering oath on newly-elected ACP office bearers and members of governing body on Monday also announced to make the famous Faizi Rehmeen Art Gallery a part of the ACP.
He said he would even approach the private sector for assistance in completion of ongoing projects being carried out by the council.
Ibad also told the ACP members to complete the housing scheme for the members at the earliest. He appreciated Secretary Ahmed Shah and other elected members for their long-lasting efforts for the advancement of art and culture from the platform of arts council.
Earlier, Ahmed Shah said that due to strong opposition of his opponents he has decided not to contest elections in future and back up a good team for the promotion of arts and culture instead.
Ejaz Faruqui, Dr Huma Mir and other office-bearers and members, however, opposed the stance of Ahmed Shah saying it was not his right to decide either to fight or not and he must rely on his supporters who had always supported and encouraged him as a team leader.
Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui also spoke and assured the newly-elected body of his support for the advancement and progress of arts and culture.
Ahmed Shah-Ejaz Faruqi Panel reclaimed most of the governing body seats in the annual Arts Council’s elections held on December 21.
Its main opponent, the Shehr-e-Quaid Panel, secured only two governing body seats. Ejaz Faruqi bagged 1,530 votes to regain the office of president, according to the results announced by election commissioner Dr Saifur Rehman. Faruqi’s opponent, Khalil Ahmed Nanitalwala, secured 1,172 votes. Prof Sehar Ansari was elected vice-president with 1,530 votes, Ahmad Shah won the secretary seat with 1,455 votes, Dr Huma Mir became joint secretary with 1,582 votes while Shehnaz Siddiqui was elected as treasurer with 1,337 votes.
However, later the opponent group challenged the elections on the grounds that around 400 newly made members had no legal authority to take part in the voting. The commissioner Karachi had (before elections) monitored and examined the stance and finally allowed the new members to take part in the elections, but the opponent group did not agree and later approached the court of law and a petition in this regard is pending with the Sindh High Court.
However, two of the newly-elected representatives from the opponent group, Rizwan Siddiqui and Zeba Bakhtiar, also took oath on Monday.
Talking to The News, ACP Secretary Ahmad Shah said that along with President Ejaz Faruqi and newly-elected team, he was committed to leave no stone unturned to serve the cause of promotion of art, culture, literature and healthy social and cultural values in the city from the platform of Arts Council.
He said though he was determined not to contest in future and serve his team by backing them, but members were not agreeing to his stance and were stressing for revision.
However, Shah said, he would take a decision after consultations with his sympathizers and patrons.