Pakistan Literature Festival Sukkur edition to kick off tomorrow

Sukkur: With the cooperation of the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, (ACP), the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (IBA Sukkur) will hold the first Pakistan Literature Festival (PLF) in the city on Saturday and Sunday.

The programme of the festival was announced at a press conference held at the IBA Sukkur on Thursday. ACP President Muhammad Ahmad Shah, IBA Sukkur Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Asif Ahmed Sheikh, Sukkur Mayor Barrister Arslan Islam Sheikh, District Council Sukkur Chairman Syed Kumail Haider Shah, IBA Sukkur Head of Department Abdul Wahid Qazi and Sukkur Arts Council President Mumtaz Bukhari addressed the press conference.

Shah explained that the PLF was envisaged by the ACP as a cultural event to be held across the country. He said the PLF had already been held in Lahore and Azad Kashmir and now it was going to be held in Sukkur.

The ACP president said the Sukkur edition of the festival would be inaugurated by Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar tomorrow (Saturday). He added that the ACP had been trying to promote the culture of Sindh and through such literary festivals, it wanted to bring people of different societies together.

He also lauded the services of the Sukkur Arts Council for the promotion of various art forms. Shah said he was sure that the PLF Sukkur would prove to be a bigger festival than the PLF Lahore.

The IBA Sukkur VC said that when he heard about the ACP’s plan to hold its literary festival in Sukkur, he spoke to Shah and asked him to hold the festival in the IBA Sukkur.

He said that holding the PLF would be an honour for the IBA Sukkur. The festival would help bring the youth towards literature, and offer various sessions on literature, journalism and education, he added.

He said the festival would also feature discussions on the Sindhi literature, Mushaira and musical programmes. The VC said the festival would be inaugurated by the CM and its concluding ceremony would be attended by Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori.

The Sukkur mayor thanked the ACP for choosing Sukkur as its next destination for holding the literary festival. He said the festival would help promote positive facets of our culture.

The District Council Sukkur chairman lamented that not many cultural programmes were held in Sukkur these days. He recalled that 10 to 15 years ago, he worked for the promotion of literature and cultural activities.

He said the PLF would provide art and literature lovers in Sukkur a big platform. The Sukkur Arts Council president said the ACP was the first organisation promoting arts and culture on such a big scale. He added that the ACP president is working for arts and culture at the international level.