Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: November 06, 2023 | 
| 中文
(L to R) Iftikhar Arif, Najeeba Arif and Farrukh Jamal at the session, 'Mahmil o Jaras: Collection of Unpublished Poems by Josh Malihabadi'
This weekend, Oxford University Press (OUP) Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF), came one year closer to marking a full decade of successfully reviving the literary spirit for the residents of the capital and adjoining towns. The two and a half-day festival held from November 3-5 at the Gandhara Citizen Club in F-9 Park had 'People, Planet, Possibilities' as its core theme. The generally underutilized but beautiful property of Capital Development Authority was finally put to good use. Various activities and sessions, packed in a three-day programme were held in three different halls of the well-planned building, while the main lobby, foyers and balconies offered ample space for help desks, art exhibits, and stalls dedicated to publishers and stockists of books. The literary enthusiasts of Islamabad, young and old, were present in full force to take advantage of the various panel discussions, book launches, authors’ sessions, thematic discussions, art and cultural activities, and poetry recitals that were publicized well in advance. The details about the lineup of sessions kept changing on ILF’s official website due to uncertainty around participation of some key panelists and this caused confusion. At a time where such intellectually stimulating activities are few and far between, people were still happy to soak as much as they could from this opportunity.
British author Victoria Schofield speaking at the ILF 2023
The inaugural session had OUP Managing Director Arshad Saeed Husain, the High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Pakistan Jane Marriott, and its primary sponsor, Getz Pharma Pvt. Ltd.’s Managing Director Khalid Mahmood, as the main speakers. Key note speeches by well-known British author and historian Victoria Schofield and the eminent Urdu poet Iftikhar Arif were the highlight of this session. Arshad in his address underscored the significant impact of literary festivals and said that the festival had 53 sessions in total, with about 150 speakers. Jane Marriott, British High Commissioner to Pakistan, expressed gratitude for the recognition that Pakistani authors, especially those writing in the English language, had attained at a global level. Iftikhar Arif, noted Urdu poet, scholar and literary figure in his keynote address stressed the importance of languages and literature in shaping human civilizations. He said that there are 76 languages indigenous to the region that forms Pakistan, but many are nearing extinction. Victoria Schofield, a British author, biographer and historian, who has been visiting Pakistan for 45 years, expressed her delight at being back in Pakistan. “I hope that no one, especially here at a literature festival, believes that just because we have internet, books are not relevant… They (books) are the repositories of knowledge and learning, handed down from generation to generation, updated, refined, expanded and consolidated,” she said. The session concluded with a dance performance by Zahshanne Malik on Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s moving poem ‘Lao to Qatal Nama Mera’.
Zahshanne Malik's dance performance at the ILF 2023
The inaugural session was immediately followed by an insightful session on “Iqbal: Aik Ehed Saaz Shair” (An Era-defining Poet). The particular session delved into the influence of Iqbal’s poetry on shaping the intellectual thought through generations. The session was moderated by Nasira Zuberi, while Ahmed Atta recited selected verses of the national poet of Pakistan. Some of the sessions were focused on education, environment, artificial intelligence, economy and business, current political issues, diversity and inclusion. In another hall, architect, environmentalist, filmmaker and writer Tariq Alexander Qaiser and Umber Khairi, a renowned columnist, writer and editor engaged in a thought-provoking conversation. The session titled, “Pakistan’s Mangroves: A Forest in Peril”, discussed Tariq’s efforts to preserve Karachi’s Island mangroves. Tariq made a significant appearance at COP27 in Sharm al Sheikh, Egypt, presenting his film A Story of Survival, which focused on the mangrove forests of the Indus delta.
Senator Mushahid Hussain addressed the session on Resilient Pakistan (book by Haya Fatima Sehgal), which lauded the vision of the Founders of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, for their commitment to empowerment of women and focus on education as key pillars of progress. Mushahid Hussain said that Kashmir and Palestine are examples of resilience, causes that refuse to die and people who refuse to give up their fight for freedom! He termed the book reflective of 21st Century Pakistani youth’s worldview, inspired by the ideals of the Quaid-e-Azam and anchored in a can-do confidence and optimism based on faith in the future.
A session on 'Resilient Pakistan', speaker Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed at ILF 2023
Dr. Maleeha Lodhi speaking at the session “Pakistan’s Foreign Policy and Economic Challenges”, said foreign policy will be as effective or weak, depending on how strong the domestic base is. Pakistan's political instability, economic weakness and the political elite's refusal to fix this, has resulted in our foreign policy being ineffective in promoting Pakistan’s strategic goals. That is the current state of play, but in the past Pakistan successfully pursued an independent foreign policy. Examples of these are: Pakistan's acquisition of nuclear capability despite sanctions; embargoes and censure; forging of relations with China during the Cold War, against the opposition of the US. These two cases are emblematic of Pakistan acting in its national interest.
The session on 'Pakistan's Foreign Policy and Economic Challenges', speakers, Maleeha Lodhi and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry and moderator Salma Malik
The next two days also had launches of over a dozen books with readings, where attendees got a chance to get their copies signed by the authors. All sessions were broadcast live on OUP’s social media channels. In the session titled “Aag ka Darya: Barresagheer Ki Kahani, Qurratulain Ki Zubaani” (River of Fire: Story of the Indian-Subcontinent, from the perspective of Qurratulain), two intellectuals, Amir Jafri and Agha Sajjad Hussain, shared updates on the much-needed scholarly work of adding a glossary and footnotes that they have been preoccupied with for years on one of the most well-known but complex novels in Urdu. Agha Sajjad Hussain is also in the last stages of turning this into an E-book. Written by the literary mastermind Qurratulain Hyder in 1957, and hurriedly published at the time, Aag ka Darya has been the most published Urdu piece of literature, just trailing behind the poetry of Iqbal and Faiz, and yet very few have read and understood it in its totality. Amir Jafri aptly described this captivating piece of literature as ‘enigmatic and yet inaccessible’. One can only hope that this book with glossary and footnotes soon gets published in print and audio formats, making this masterpiece comprehensible for a larger segment of Urdu literature enthusiasts.
In the session titled “Pakistan’s Wars: An Alternate History”, Yaqoob Bangash had a fireside chat with Tariq Rahman, author of 10 books and over 100 articles and the first Pakistani to receive Germany’s prestigious Humboldt Research Award for academic research and a recipient of the President of Pakistan’s Pride of Performance award. Moeed Yousuf, Vice Chancellor of Beaconhouse National University, and a former National Security Adviser and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan was a co-panelist. Tariq Rahman’s latest publication, Pakistan’s Wars: An Alternative History, centers on the economic implications of wars, but generations to come are burdened by its economic costs.
Tariq Rahman at ILF 2023
“Mahmil-o-Jaras: Collection of Unpublished Poems by Josh Malihabadi,” was the curtain raiser of the hereto unpublished poetry of Josh, who is also regarded as a revolutionary poet. Josh who passed away in 1982, is considered as one of the finest Urdu poets known for his progressive ideas, who challenged the established order. In the session on “Development Pathways: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh at 75’ by Ishrat Husain”, was moderated by Vaqar Ahmed, Executive Director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. The speakers were Sohail Mahmood, former Foreign Secretary, Ikram Sehgal, security analyst, Aisha Ghaus Pasha, former Minister of State for Finance and Revenue and Khalid Banuri, a former public servant and an educationist, highlighted the need for Pakistan to redefine its strategic and economic paradigms in the light of Dr. Ishrat Hussain’s book.
On the right Murtaza Solangi, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, in the audience
The festival also had various sessions on journalism in Pakistan. In “The Dark Side of Journalism: Culture and Political Economy of Global Media in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” moderated by Fasi Zaka, the challenges faced by journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while working for international news outlets post 9/11, were discussed. Farnood Alam moderated a session, “Literature and Journalism: A Disconnect”, while Tauseeq Haider moderated a candid fireside chat with Hamid Mir, Pakistan’s leading journalist, who has reported on conflicts in several regions, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Chechnya and Kashmir, and has the distinction of being the only journalist to have conducted an interview with Osama bin Laden post-9/11.
Hamid Mir and Afrasiab Khattak at ILF 2023
Keeping with its tradition of celebrating poetry, and music and other creative endeavors, the festival included a grand mushaira presided over by Iftikhar Arif, a screening of Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s film Kamli, which has been critically acclaimed both nationally and internationally, and a Ghazal Night featuring the maestro Ustad Hamid Ali Khan. The country in recent months has seen a mushrooming of literature festivals and one hopes that the trend will continue.
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