Islamabad: A daylong ‘Potohar literary festival’ held here at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) with participation of eminent literary figures from all over the country.
It was largely attended by the students and faculty members of AIOU and the local education institutions. Altogether, there were eight sittings in which the participants spoke about various aspects and significance of language and literature.
While inaugurating the inaugural session, Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Zia-Ul-Qayyum announced that the AIOU will initiate dialogue on the socio-economic issues through such events, to be organized on regular basis here at the main campus and their 49 regional offices.
They will mobilise their TV and radio network for projecting the dialogue process that he said is direly needed to develop public consensus on national issues. The role of academia is highly important for this purpose.
The participants included eminent writers I A Rehman, Ghazi Salahuddin, Prof Fateha Muhammad Malik, Iftikhar Arif, Farooq Qaiser, Dr. Sheeba Alam, Ayaz Ahmed, Hasan Miraz, Hameed Shahid, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Adeel Hashmi, Hasan Miraj and renowned television anchor Hamid Mir.
The festival was part of the University’s consistent efforts promoting healthy activities among the students. It was also aimed at providing a platform to students to understand the richness of their national heritage and traditions.
The event was organised by the University’s Urdu Department. Dean Social Science Dr. Samina Awan and the Chairman of the Urdu Department Dr. Abdul Aziz Sehr also spoke on the occasion and highlighted various features of the festival.