KARACHI: The three-day fourth Sindh Literature Festival (SLF) will be held from Friday (today) evening. It will have 27 sessions, four book launches and musical performances.

This was announced at a press conference at the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi on Thursday afternoon.

The council’s president Ahmed Shah said the festival has now come home (since its previous editions were held at a hotel). “The council is a space for cultural activities and it’s located in the capital of Sindh. The event is Sindhi culture’s biggest festival,” he added.

The organiser of SLF Naseer Gopang told the media how the idea for the event came about. Referring to a similar festival which he and his friends Zohaib Kaka and Najia Mir used to go to on an annual basis, he said he felt that there Sindhi writers and language weren’t getting their due share. As a result, SLF came into being. Initially, they found difficulties in getting the requisite funds for the programme but they managed to successfully organise and run the festival.

He told the media SLF will be held from March 12 to 14 and this time around there will be 27 sessions, four book launches, a mushaira and musical evenings. Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Shah Mohammad Mari and Dr Adib Rizvi, among others, will be the speakers at the inaugural session followed by the first formal session ‘Sindhi Samaj Jo Jaizo’. He added not just Sindhi but all other colours (Seraiki, Urdu etc) will be represented at the festival.

Najia Mir talked about the international sessions that are going to take place. The first one she mentioned was ‘Feminism in South Asia’ in which Indian author and activist Kamla Bhasin will participate on Saturday from London. Then on Sunday the segment ‘I saw myself journey with Shah Abdul Latif’ will feature film-maker Shabnam Virmani from India. Also, Prof Manan Ahmed Asif from the US will be one of the speakers in the session called ‘Chach Namo’.

Zohaib Kaka spoke about the sponsors and those who have helped the organisers put up the festival.

Writer Noorul Huda Shah said in recent times two platforms — the Arts Council and SLF — have been doing a job of putting out the fire and diminishing distances [between communities]. About this year’s iteration, she said Sindh’s history will also be discussed.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2021