ISLAMABAD: The third and final day of the eighth Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF) was filled with stimulating discourses, debates and book launches.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ILF, which was being held virtually and organised by Oxford University Press Pakistan (OUPP) had continued as a virtual event with some face-to-face sessions and attended by select audience while observing standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The day started with a session titled ‘Cartooning: No Laughing Matter’. Famed cartoonists Nigar Nazar, creator of ‘Gogi’, and Shaukat Mahmood, creator of ‘Maxim’ with Ricardo Martinez Ortega and Mahnaz Yazdani said creating wit and humour in pictures was indeed no laughing matter.
The panel of speakers in Yaad-i-Raftagan had Fateh Mohammad Malik, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Najeeba Arif, Harris Khalique and Hameed Shahid who paid tributes to those who had passed on while leaving behind a rich legacy of their literary works for future generations.
The morning session also saw Kishwar Naheed, in conversation with Mujahid Barelvi, for the launch of her book, Buri Aurat ki Doosri Katha (The Bad Woman’s Second Story), a sequel to her autobiography, Buri Aurat Ki Katha.
The author of In Dying to Serve: Militarism, Affect and the Politics of Sacrifice in the Pakistan Army, Maria Rashid in conversation with Nida Kirmani said that the book portrayed the morale and commitment in Pakistan’s military culture in a compassionate way. A lucid translation of the autobiography of Bacha Khan, My life and Struggle was also launched. Panel of speakers included translator Imtiaz Ahmed Sahibzada, Rafiullah Kakar and Xenia Rasul Khan.
In a separate session titled ‘Changing Landscapes: Climate Conversation in Literature and Society’, a panel of experts including Ahmed Rafay Alam, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett and Bilal Zahoor highlighted that awareness about human activities was the driving force behind the climate change movement. Moderator of the session was Zaighum Abbas.
The afternoon session Hairat ka Bagh saw author Hameed Shahid discuss his new work which is a collection of short stories and a novel, imbued with mysteries and wonders of life. Moderator Fasi Zaka spoke to the author, Omar Mukhtar Khan about his book Once Upon a Time in Murree which captured the writer’s nostalgic love for the hill station.
Speakers Vaqar Ahmed, Ashfaq Yousuf Tola and Aliya Hashmi Khan discussed the impact of offshore tax havens in the session, ‘Panama, Pandora and Pakista’.
The session on digital education started with an introduction by Fathima Dada, MD, Education Division, OUP United Kingdom; she talked about a new global report published by OUP UK which explores the digital divide in education, following the shift to digital learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was followed by a panel discussion between Talha Munir Khan, Nusrat Baquee, Sarah Farooq moderated by Daniel Atif further highlighting trends shaping the digital learning landscape globally with a focus on Pakistan.
Another book titled Womansplaining: Navigating Activism, Politics and Modernity in Pakistan edited by Sherry Rehman was launched. Struggles over space, resources, identities and meaning within South Asian countries were discussed at the launch of Marginalisation, Contestation, and Change in South Asian Cities edited by Nida Kirmani.
Late afternoon sessions included ‘Pakistan: Current Challenges and Priorities’ with Maleeha Lodhi and Owen Bennett-Jones in conversation with Arifa Noor.
The session, ‘We the people: What the Constitution says?’ highlighted facts about the 1973 Constitution in which Wasim Sajjad, Raza Rabbani and Ahmer Bilal Soofi were the speakers.
Arts and entertainment personalities, Beo Zafar, Mehreen Jabbar and Sania Saeed with moderator, Khalid Anam discussed the scope and scriptwriting for web series in the digital age.
Day three ended with the closing keynote speeches by Francis Pritchett, Najiba Arif and Owen Bennett-Jones.
OUPP MD Arshad Saeed Hussain thanked all sponsors and said, “The deliberations of the last three days have examined and analysed the most consequential, the most important, issues of our time – whether geopolitical, economic, environmental, or educational – and helped each of us to develop an opinion towards them. And that is not all that this 8th ILF was about. It was about the creative spirit and directions and developments in fiction, drama, media, and the world of ideas. It was about the enjoyment of poetry in Urdu, and in English.”
The organisers hoped that it helped add to the knowledge of people and altered viewpoints, in some way or the other.
“The festival was about the need to understand that the future would be quite different to the past and require all imagination and all creativity for Reimagining the Future,” Mr Hussain said.
Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2021