LAHORE: London School of Economics (LSE) has invited Pakistani playwright and Ajoka Theatre director, Shahid Nadeem, as a speaker at its upcoming South Asia Development Conference (SADC).
The conference will be held on March 17 and agenda includes a panel on the role of culture in religious and ethnic nationalism. Other panellists include Indian Art critic and writer Ms Suman Doonga and cultural anthropologist Dr Balgopal Shrestha from Nepal.
The South Asia Development Conference has brought prominent voices from South Asia on a common platform with the aim of discussing how individual countries across South Asia could cooperate in fighting the common threats facing the region.
According to the organisers, “The main motive of this conference is to create a united front that cuts across different countries, cultures, traditions, conflicts and political differences, creating a diverse group of like-minded and dynamic individuals with the ultimate goal of contributing positively to the region in various forms”.
Shahid Nadeem, while giving his remarks, said it’s a great honour to represent Pakistan in this high profile event and share his experiences of promoting peace and challenging extremism through theatre.
Shahid Nadeem recently attended National Artists Convention, which was held at the PNCA on 23-25 February where he was the key speaker on the session on theatre. Later, he attended the Asia Peace Film Festival in Karachi where he spoke on “Hate Speech Vs Freedom of Speech”. He also spoke about Benazir Bhutto’s contribution to peace at a special session of the festival, chaired by the then Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani.