KARACHI, Jan 17: The chief of the newly-established National Academy of Performing Arts, Zia Mohyeddin, has underlined the need for declaring the locality around the Arts Council a cultural precinct.

Speaking at an oath-taking ceremony at the Arts Council on Monday evening, he said the building of the National Academy of Performing Arts was just across the road from the Arts Council.

"More importantly, Aiwan-i-Riffat is close by. The building of an erstwhile museum is a stone's throw from the Arts Council. If this locality is declared a cultural precinct - where rickshaws and other vehicles may not enter - then artistic and cultural activity could take place here unhindered," he suggested, adding that he feared that roadside dentists and barbers might encroach upon the space earmarked for artists.

He said he disagreed with Arts Council secretary Aneeq Ahmed who had remarked earlier that the rate of literacy at the institution was 100 per cent. He insisted on making a distinction between rate of literacy and real education. He quoted a poem by Noon Meem Rashid to illustrate his point.

Earlier, Arts Council secretary Aneeq Ahmed observed that Karachi was fast regaining its lost glory. He said he would do his utmost to give a much-needed fillip to cultural activities in the Arts Council.

He vowed to fulfil the promises he and his colleagues had made to the members of the Arts Council. He said he was conscious of the fact that his illustrious predecessors included Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Altaf Gauhar.

RECOUNTING: Ovais Adeeb Ansari and Seema Tahir Khan of the Khusbakht Shujaat panel made place for Ibrahim Nafees and Kazim Pasha from the same panel when they lost their seats in the governing body of the Arts Council during a recounting of votes on Sunday night.