Islamabad:The main purpose of celebrating Independence Day is to learn lessons from the past and set a course of action for the future.
These views were expressed by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) Chairman Dr. Yousuf Khushk, while presenting the key-note address in the ‘Jashan-e-Azadi Mushaira’ organised in connection with the Diamond Jubilee (75th) Independence Day celebrations in collaboration with literary & cultural organisation ‘Inhiraaf International.’
Iftikhar Arif presided over the ‘Jashan-e-Azadi Mushaira’. Dr. Ehsan Akbar and Prof. Jalil Ali were the chief guests. The proceedings were conducted by Rehman Hafeez. PAL chairman said, “We belong to the lucky generation that today we are celebrating 75 years of independence of Pakistan in a grand manner.
He said that the PAL organised 75 programmes in 75 years from Independence Day last year till today. In connection with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the ‘mushaira’ is a link in this series. This ‘mushaira’ is the 72nd programme of the same series of events.
Iftikhar Arif said that the PAL is not less than the Academic Institutions of any developed country in the world. Dr. Yousuf Khushk has activated Academic literature with great compassion, love, open-heartedness and generosity, for which he is rightly to be congratulated.
Iftikhar Arif, Dr. Ehsan Akbar, Prof. Jalil Ali, Nasir Ali Syed, Naseem Sehar, Ali Akbar Abbas, Hasan Abbas Raza, Mehboob Zafar, Rehman Hafeez, Akhtar Raza Saleemi, Qayyum Tahir, Anjum Khaliq, Mohsin Shaikh, Wafa Chishti, Dr. Farhat Abbas, Dr. Arshad Mahmood Nashad, Shaukat Jamal, Dawood Kaif, Atif Mirza, Khurshid Ahmad and other poets of Rawalpindi/Islamabad offered devotion to the beloved country.