ISLAMABAD: Thousands of literature lovers thronged the 5th Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF) on its second day on Saturday, marking remarkable success for a large number of interactive sessions, dialogues, performances and literary activities here at a local hotel.
ILF ends on Sunday with some memorable accomplishments.
According to details, residents of the twin cities portrayed their unbiased love not only for literature but for the literary icons belonging to different countries of the world by visiting the festival in large numbers.
On the second day of ILF, Fasi Zaka moderated a session “Preparing the Citizens of Tomorrow: Are we Succeeding or Failing?” The session was held to critique the current education provision in Pakistan. Featuring participants like Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Nadia Naviwala, Shahid Siddiqui, and Ishrat Husain.
Reema Abbasi moderated a session Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan, a nostalgic search for historic monuments and temples eroded by time which included the author Amardeep Singh and F.S. Aijazuddin.
To discuss the core issue of water, a special session “Where has all the Water gone? Experts and concerned citizens debate the water crisis in Pakistan” was held in which Nisar A Memon, Kaiser Bengali, and Aaron Mulvany discussed the issue with moderator Rina Saeed Khan.
A Performance by Nimra Bucha and Sarmad Khoosat on readings from Amrita Pritam and Sahir Ludhianvi’s poetry focusing on their unique vision and elusive, the unspoken romance was also featured on the second day of ILF.
“Gender Violence, Law, and Power in Pakistan focusing on feminists’ struggle for justice and equal rights” was held in which Nafisa Shah, Sherry Rehman, and Ijaz Shafi Gilani participated with moderator Samar Minallah Khan.
‘Rail Kahaani’ was presented by Zambeel Dramatic Readings based on short stories on railway journeys written by different authors. These were presented by Shama Askari, Asma Mundrawala, Saife Hasan, and Fawad Khan.
Qasim Yaqoob moderated a session “Mohabbat aur Dehshat Gardi: Aaj ka Urdu Adab”, in which Hameed Shahid, Irfan Urfi, and Ravish Nadim participated.
A special session on the poetry of Ifitkhar Arif was also held in which Iftikhar Arif had a detailed conversation with Harris Khalique and Asif Farrukhi while the session was chaired by Zehra Nigah.
To discuss the women’s issues in politics, AWAZ program presented a special session “Women and Excluded Groups in Political Parties and Legislative Bodies” in which Marvi Sirmed, Zafarullah Khan, and Bushra Gohar participated along with the moderator Shirin Gul.
A session “English Poetry: The International Muse” was also featured on the second day which included Blaine Marchand, Harris Khalique, Waqas Khwaja, Azka Khan, and Orooj e Zafar while the session was moderated by Ilona Yusuf.
Several new books including Pakistan ki Tehzeeb o Saqafat by Kishwar Naheed, Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani Literature in English by Muneeza Shamsie, Learning to Live with the Bomb: Pakistan: 1998–2016 by Naeem Salik, Hyat-e-Shayr and Sur Mandal ka Raj by Ali Akbar Natiq, How Pakistan Got Divided by Maj Gen (R) Rao Farman Ali and The Arts and Crafts of Hunza Valley in Pakistan: Living Traditions in the Karakoram by Jurgen Wasim Frembgen were also launched on the second day.
ILF hosted an amazing Mushaira (poetry recitation), which was moderated by Shakeel Jazib and was attended by many renowned poets from twin cities; including Kishwar Naheed, Iftikhar Arif, Imran Aami, Saeed Shaariq, Saeed Ahmad, Qamar Raza Shahzad, Harris Khalique, Ali Akbar Natiq, Manzar Naqvi, Zia ul Hassan, Akhtar Usman, Sarwat Mohiuddin, Qasim Yaqoob, Rehman Faris, and Nasira Zuberi.
Islamabad Literature Festival will conclude on Sunday after day-long interactive sessions, dialogues and performances while displaying big names from the literary circles from Pakistan and abroad as well.
