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Thursday March 28, 2024

Foreign diplomats’ bid to speak Urdu delights KLF audience

By Zubair Ashraf
February 29, 2020

The crowd in the main garden of the Beach Luxury Hotel was in awe and occasionally burst into laughter as the guests of honour, British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner, Italian Consul General Anna Ruffino and United States Consulate official Jason Green, spoke a bit of Urdu in the opening session of the 11th edition of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) on Friday evening.

Perhaps nobody expected Dr Turner to start his speech in his English-accented Urdu, saying “Mein Yahan Aa Kar Buhat Khush Hun, Kyun Keh Kitaben Buhat Qeemti Hein [I am so happy being here, because books are very precious]” and then reflecting in self-referential humour that he thought the crowd would be happy, if he would rather switch to English.

His message revolved around three words – perceptions, connections and discourse. He said he had sympathy with the view that there was a gap between the foreign perception of Pakistan and the reality. He said fair diplomacy had resulted in a change in the British travel advisory to Pakistan and through his presence as a speaker at the KLF, he wanted to signify that there was much to see and celebrate in Pakistan.

“I think as part of changing these perceptions, it is absolutely right that there is a need to invest in education, especially in girls education, because there is a direct correlation between a country’s growth and the number of girls it has in secondary education. We have to do everything we can to encourage those young girls to stay in schools beyond the age of 10,” he said.

He then elaborated on his second theme, connections, which he said also reflected in this year’s theme of the KLF, “Across Continents: How The Word Travels”. Calling Karachi a city of connections for its history and proximity to the Gulf, he stated that two British authors, Adrian Hussain and William Dalrymple, were here to emphasise those connections, not to mention in a time when many were worrying about some downsides of connecting.

“Fears or perhaps over-placed fears about coronavirus [in Pakistan] are leading people to worry about how they even personally interact, [And] I think it is right that we are coming together to assert the importance of these connections,” he said, before moving on to describe the last of his three-word message.

Discourse, he said, could be defined as debate, diversity and dissent, and festivals like the KLF allowed people to share their ideas and celebrate spaces that were contested. “You have already heard about the importance of habit of reading, it’s about freedom of expression, tolerance and debate, all of these make us stronger, and this country has an amazing record of diversity and literature.”

Concluding his speech, he said through interactions, people across the continents must change perceptions, build connections and have more discourse.

“I would observe that there is some sort of a similarity in literature and diplomacy. Interchange of the literature is perhaps the conversation of nations,” he said, leaving a quote from Nigerian writer and critic Chinua Achebe and a couplet of Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz (in Urdu) for the audience to ponder upon.

Among the three foreign diplomats who spoke Urdu, Ruffino perhaps delighted the audience the most. She began with “Khwateen-o-Hazraat Aur Mere Pyare Dosto [Ladies and gentlemen and my dear friends”, earning applause from the audience. She said literature was in fact one of the most powerful tools to bridge the gap and disseminate knowledge among cultures and a great medium to combat prejudices and stereotypes.

“Through literature, we got to know a whole different people. In the recent past many people tried to portray a better image of Pakistan abroad and events like KLF are a great opportunity to reach the target. Pakistan has an enormous potential due to its hospitable people, rich history and great archaeological heritage,” she said, adding that the power of word in connecting people can also be seen in art and culture.

She said that on behalf of Italy, Prof Massimo Ramaioli, who also teaches at the Habib University, would be speaking at a session in the KLF.

Public affairs officer of the US consulate in Karachi, Green, appeared on behalf of his consul general, Rob Silberstein, who could not make it to the event. He spoke after Dr Turner and was pleased to hear the British diplomat’s Urdu. “I am amazed that in a short time of three months, he [Dr Turner] has learned a good deal of Urdu while I being here for like one year can only speak three words: Assalam-u-Alaikum, Shukriya and Biryani.”

He said that from the US, two speakers, journalist Sabrina Toppa and Fullbright specialist Fawzia Afzal-Khan, were participating in the event.