‘Heartening to see kids being given books instead of gadgets’

People from different walks of life, including health professionals, intellectuals, educationists, art critics and students, have called the two-day Ilm Festival an encouraging sign for reviving literary activities in Karachi, which has suffered major setbacks amid years of violence and vulnerable peace.

Organised by the Jahan-e-Maseeha Adbi Forum at the Expo Centre, the book fair & health festival concluded on Sunday. Visitors lauded the efforts of the organisers and appreciated their pro-literature campaign, which they said could prove to be a long-term contribution to society.

“I’m quite enthralled and surprised to see how this festival has attracted a large number of Karachiites,” said Dr Tipu Sultan, former president of the Pakistan Medical Association.

“It’s now high time that we promote such activities in the city, which was once the centre of literature and arts & culture. Jahan-e-Maseeha has played its part and now other segments of society should come forward to contribute.”

The two-day festival witnessed thousands of visitors, offering them over a million books at more than 100 stalls on subjects ranging from poetry to law and social sciences.

Jahan-e-Maseeha Adbi Forum Executive Member Haroon Qasim, Baithak School Advisory Board Chairman Syed Jamshed Ahmed and the festival’s organisers Irfan Ahmed, Athar Sulaiman and Abdul Samad welcomed the guests at the event, which also featured a food court with over a dozen stalls by renowned food chains.

Author and critic Dr Moinuddin Aqeel said activities like the Ilm Festival did not only offer opportunity to literature lovers but also strengthened the campaign for the revival of Urdu in the national education and administrative systems.

“It’s quite unfortunate that despite rulings of the Supreme Court and several commitments by the authorities, we have been unable to implement Urdu as our official language. We need more such events that make people aware of the depth of our literature and promote importance of Urdu in our education and administrative systems.”

The organisers said people’s participation and interest had been phenomenal, encouraging them to arrange more such activities in the city in the days to come.

Irfan Ahmed, senior member of the Adbi Forum and chief organiser of the event, said that some 10,000 people had visited the festival during the two days, and the feedback was quite encouraging and much more than they had expected.

“Jahan-e-Maseeha is a literary forum that frequently organises book festivals and mushairas, and publishes literary material throughout the year,” he said. “All these exercises are part of the efforts aimed at promoting literature and healthy activities in society.”

He said that during the past few years, the forum has emerged as a key platform mainly in the literary circle of Karachi. “We believe that with the passage of time, the number of our activities would grow further and attract more people towards literature and knowledge.”

Hundreds of physicians, their families, political leaders, government officials and ordinary citizens had attended the Ilm Festival on the first day. The festival was jointly inaugurated by Organisation Restoration Committee head Dr Farooq Sattar and Jamaat-e-Islami Sindh chief Muhammad Hussain Mehanti.

Eminent personalities, including poet and National Book Foundation Managing Director Inamul Haq Javeid, lauded the organisers for holding a mental and physical health activity under one roof.

Sattar was glad to see that not only had literary activities in Karachi resumed after a long time but they were also being regularly held. “Karachi needs more activities like the Ilm Festival to promote its image as a peaceful and vibrant city.”

Lauding the festival’s organisers for gathering physicians and ordinary citizens together, Sattar said Karachi’s people are fond of visiting places and attending events as a family.

He said they love to buy books and other literary material for their children and have fun. He urged the organisers to also arrange such fairs in the city’s low-income localities.

Mehanti also praised the organisers for holding an excellent literary activity which the people were participating in with their families and purchasing books, especially for their children.

“I’m seeing people stopping at book stalls with their sons and daughters to purchase books for them. This is encouraging to see in this digital era, in which children are being given books instead of electronic gadgets,” he said, adding that to combat extremism, more such activities are required in Karachi and all across Pakistan.

Javeid praised the organisers for holding a unique activity in the heart of the city. A large number of people also attended different health sessions, in which experts, including Yogi Wajahat and Sohail Zindani, discussed physical and mental health. Motivational speaker Syed Jamshed Ahmed spoke on the seven habits of highly effective people.

Different organisations had set up health screening camps to provide diagnostic services. Visitors were screened for bone mineral density, body mass index and different health conditions, while experts advised people, especially children, to adopt a healthy lifestyle to stay fit.