KARACHI: The Ahmed Shah-Ejaz Faruqi panel, which won the Arts Council of Pakistan’s biannual election on Dec 22 by securing more than 90 per cent of the votes cast, held the Youm-i-Tashakkur on Wednesday evening.

Addressing the audience, the council’s president Ahmed Shah thanked the Almighty first and foremost. He then extended his gratitude to those members of the council who prefer education and knowledge to unknowing.

“This is what we have tried to do. We have included men of letters in our ranks. When the Arts Council was first set up, most of those who were part of it were poets, artists and writers who had migrated from India to Pakistan. They were born in the 1930 and ’40s. Pakistan was seven years old when the council came into being. Karachi was an important city because of its port... Then it expanded and now its population is two and a half crores.”

He said in 1955 the first head of the council was Begum Abida Sultana. She wrote a letter to the then Governor General asking for a piece of land for the council. At the time the authorities had thought that they wouldn’t let it turn into a government institution.

Mr Shah said the council became the first cultural centre of the country. Art critic Jalaluddin Ahmed in 1955 came from East Pakistan and started inviting international artists here and exhibitions were held. Afterwards, great artists such as Sadequain exhibited their works at the council. “Our first Urdu Conference in 2008 was participated by the likes of Hajra Mansoor, Gopichand Narang and Sobhu Gianchandaani. We thank the Almighty for our 17-year journey.”

Mr Shah in the end paid tribute to the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and added the council is following the directives of the Quaid.

After the speech, a cake was cut to celebrate the Quaid’s birthday.

The last item of the evening was a qawwali performance by Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2024