KARACHI, Nov 26 A seven-day Aalmi Urdu Conference organised by the Arts Council of Pakistan to commemorate legends of Urdu literature begins on Thursday. Eminent writers, poets, critics, novelists and other literary figures will participate in eleven sittings to be held during the conference.

Presiding councils have been formed for each sitting.

The inaugural session will be held from 4pm to 8pm. Prof Sahar Ansari will deliver the welcome address.

Dr Shadab Ahsani, Dr Shazia Anbreen and Dr Khaleeq Anjum will present their theses on Maulvi Abdul Haq while Dr Hilal Naqvi, Dr Yahya Ahmed and Dr Gopichand Narang will present their theses on Josh Malihabadi. Later, a musical evening will be held in the open-air theatre of the Arts Council.

The first formal meeting of the conference on “New creative and critique trends in Urdu literature over the last 10 years” will be held on Friday in the Manzar Akbar Hall from 10am to 2pm. Dr Siddiqur Rehman Qidwai, Dr Abulbashar, Dr Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, Fehmida Riaz, Dr Asif Furrukhi, Dr Fatima Hassan and Dr Najib Jamal will speak.

The second meeting at 3pm on Friday will be on “New trends in Urdu poetry during the last 10 years”. Dr Shamim Hanfi, Iftikhar Arif, Asghar Nadim Syed, Shahida Hassan, Dr Saleem Yazdani, Rahat Malik and Riaz Hanis will speak on the subject. The sitting will be followed by “Makhdoom Memorial Mushaira.”

At the third sitting, to be held on Monday from 10am to 2pm in Manzar Akbar Hall, Dr Anwar Ahmed, Iqbal Mirza, Dr Ali Ahmed Fatemi, Ali Hyder Malik, Nasim Durrani, Mubin Mirza and Awais Qarni will speak on “New trends in Urdu fiction during the last 10 years.”

The fourth meeting will be held on Monday from 3pm to 7 pm to remember Ghalib. Dr Furrukhi, Dr Shahid Mahli, Dr Nawaz Ali Shauq, Khwaja Razi Hyder and Dr Ali Javed would speak on “Ghalib poetry and personality.” The sitting will be followed by “Josh Yadgari Mushaira.

The fifth, sixth and seventh meetings of the conference will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday to pay tribute to Josh Malihabadi. Dr Khaliq Anjum, Dr Raza Kazmi, Dr Najib Jamal, Dr Anis Alam, Nuzhat Abbasi, Pinky Justin and Dr Zulfiqar Sial will speak at the fifth meeting while Dr Qidwai, Ashfaq Hussain, Dr Hilal Naqvi, Ibrahim Rizvi, Dr Jaffer Ahmed and Danial Tareer, Prof Sahar Ansari, Dr Taqi Abidi, Dr Ali Ahmed Fatemi, Firasat Rizvi, Dr Ziaul Hasan, Iqbal Mirza and Iqbal Hyder will read out their theses on Josh and the art of couplet.

The eighth meeting would be held on Dec 1 from 3pm to 7pm in connection with the centenary celebration of Makhdoom Mohiuddin. Anwar Ahsan Siddiqui, Dr Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, Prof Sahar Ansari, Dr Taqi Abidi, Dr Ali Ahmed Fatemi, Dr Ali Javed, Mazhar Jamil, Ashfaq Hussain and Dr Jaffer Ahmed will speak on Makhdoom Mohiuddin Ahmed`s personality and his poetry. The sitting will be followed by a musical programme.

The ninth, tenth and eleventh sessions, to be held on Thursday, have been organised by the Department of Urdu, University of Karachi. The speakers will be Prof Gopichand Narang, Dr Muhammad Ali Siddiqui, Dr Khaleeq Anjum, Dr Anwar Ahmed Khan, Dr Ali Ahmed Fatemi, Dr Shahid Mahli and Dr Zulqarnain Ahmed, Dr Qidwai, Prof Hanfi, Dr Fatemi, Prof Ansari, Dr Tahir Tonsvi and Dr Uzma Farman. The sessions will be followed by a Mushaira.

The concluding session of the Aalmi Urdu Conference will be held on Dec 3 from 4pm to 8pm. Dr Manzoor Ahmed would be the chief guest. The conference will come to an end with a cultural music programme.