LITERATURE is a noble art. It strives to bring an understanding and give expression to human experience. Sadly, it is neglected in Pakistan, is not receiving the dedication and investment that it deserves.

If one aspires to become a doctor, one can go to medical school. There are plenty of engineering universities for the engineer. Similarly, there is no shortage of business schools, law schools, schools for architecture, fashion design and the famous National College of Arts to cater for the artistically inclined. But where are aspiring writers supposed to study?

A lot of colleges have literature departments, and I am studying at one such department. My point is, literature is not just a subject. Like every art, it brings with it an entire culture. This cannot be experienced in an institute that is basically meant to offer economics as a subject. It also happens to offer literature. Literature is not a limited subject. People have been writing since they devised a system to do it.

I feel it is time that the connoisseurs of the written word, of whom there is no shortage in this land, came together to found a campus that would bring forth men and women of letters.

Noor-ul-ain Sajjad

Lahore

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2015

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