9th International Urdu Conference begins tomorrow

Over 150 writers from across the world expected to take part in four-day event; Indian authors to participate via video link

The 9th International Urdu Conference is set to kick off at the Arts Council on December 1 (tomorrow) and lasts until December 4.

“The Arts Council, Karachi, has to its credit initiated the international Urdu conference, an event which the country’s intellectuals and academia await all year round,” said Muhammad Ahmed Shah, the conference chairman and Arts Council official.

He was addressing a press conference along with Arts Council President Professor Ejaz Farooqi, noted TV personality of yesteryear Haseena Moeen and others.

Apart from writers and intellectuals from Pakistan, over 150 writers are expected to participate from across the globe, from countries like the US, the UK, Turkey, Egypt, Iran and Denmark, and some other European countries.

However, writers and intellectuals from India will participate in the conference via video link.

Decrying the Indian government’s stance, Ahmed Shah said that the Indian government had adopted an aggressive position not only towards Pakistani actors and intellectuals but also towards Muslim Indian writers and intellectuals.

Despite having obtained visas from the Pakistan High Commission, the Indian intellectuals were reluctant to come over to avoid any unpleasantness with their government in the future. This, he said, was highly regrettable.

Among the many sessions, an important one on day one will be titled, “Faiz and global peace”, and will feature, among others, Zehra Nigah, journalist IA Rehman, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s daughter, Salima Hashmi.

Besides, there will be a whole lot of book launches. Also, there will

be an award presentation by the UK-based Yorkshire Adabi Forum, a gathering of Pakistani poets and writers based in Yorkshire, England, on day three.

A session on day two will focus on the social media and the state of the media. IA Rehman, Ghazi Salahuddin, Mohammad Hanif, Masood Ashar, Wusatullah Khan and Mazhar Abbas will be among the speakers at this session, which will be moderated by Muhammad Ayub Shaikh.