KARACHI, Nov 27: An International Humour Conference under the aegis of the magazine Zarafat will be held here from Dec 14 to Dec 21, says a press release.

The press release adds that in connection with the fourth death anniversary of Dilawar Figar a seminar was recently held and Mushairas were organized all over the city. “Humorists, humorous poets, cartoonists and TV performers from 15 countries will take part in the conference. Zia Mohyeddin, Anwer Maqsood, Moin Akhtar and Bushra Ansari are expected to participate in the conference.”

It says that the conference will begin in the auditorium of the Shaikh Zaiyed Islamic Centre, Karachi University, on Dec 14 at 6pm. Humorists will present their research papers. Apart from an exhibition of cartoons, a function for jokes will also be held. Mr Mohyeddin will read out passages from the essays of Patras Bokhari. Anwer Maqsood, Moin Akhtar and Bushra Ansari will read papers on humorous acting.”

According to the press release, international Mushairas will be held under the aegis of the Karachi Police, Creek Club, Nazim of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Nazim of Malir, Pakistan Steel and Karachi Gymkhana.

The following men of letters are expected to take part in the conference: Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi, Jamiluddin Aali, Dr Jamil Jalbi, Dr Farman Fatehpuri, Mahmood Sham, Pirzada Qasim, Sahar Ansari, Raghib Muradabadi, Dr Mohammad Ali Siddiqi, Rasool Ahmed Kalimi, S.M. Moin Qureishi, S.H. Hashmi, Najma Khan, Durre Shahwar, Col Ashfaq Hussain, Dr Mohammad Mohsin, Ashfaq Ahmed, Attaul Haq Qasimi, Dr Younus Butt, Javed Iqbal, Khalid Masood Khan, Anwer Masood, Sarfaraz Shahid, Dr Inamul Haq Javed, Zahid Fakhri, Aziz Ahmed, Prof Inayat Ali Khan, Anwer Barelvi, Abdul Hakim Nasif, Mirza Aasi Akhtar, Athar Shah Khan, Syed Agha, Farhat Nadeen Humayun and others.

The following are expected from abroad: Naseem Sahar (Jeddah), Mumtaz Rashid (Qatar), Azhar Kamal (Kuwait), Shaukat Jamal and Jaffer Rizvi (Riyadh), Masroor Javed, Abdullah Jafri, Mehdi Hussain and Dr Abdul Rehman (US), Arshad Usmani and Zamin Jafri (Canada), Targheeb Buland Naqvi (Denmark), Jamshed Masroor (Norway) and Farzana Sehab (Sharjah).