21:16
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Karachi
The well-attended four-day fifth international Urdu conference concluded at the Arts Council on Sunday evening.
Speakers and participants heaped plaudits on the organisers, the Arts Council of Pakistan, for having staged such a splendid event.
Lahore-based journalist Masood Asher, congratulating the organisers, said that the commencement of the conference was most timely and said people in places like Lahore had the impression that Karachi was all about targeted killings, robberies, and clashes, that people were confined indoors after dark for fear of being robbed or killed. He said that apart from being a very enriching exercise intellectually, the conference went a long way in erasing the fearsome image of the city that had been projected. He said that it was so reassuring to see that people in Karachi had this thirst for intellectual pursuits and that there was such a lot of literary talent.
Dr Nomanul Haq, of the Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS), lauding the venture said that it was a real source of pride that so many speakers and participants came from all over the country. Urdu, he said, was an international heritage and this conference had done the cause of the language a real service in perpetuating this heritage.
Mehmood Ahmed Khan, Vice-President, Arts Council recounted all the spadework that had gone into planning and holding the conference amid such trying and uncertain civic conditions. “We don’t have words to thank all those who helped us make the conference such a success”, Khan said.
Noted Urdu scholar from India Dr Shamim Hanafi, was highly impressed with the moot and hoped that travel restrictions between the two countries would be further eased so that people on both sides of the divide could participate in such productive ventures more often.
The first session of the day , titled, “Urdu ka ahd-e-afreen mazah”, pertained to humour in Urdu literature. There were readings from the works of Zameer Jaffrey, Ibne Insha, Patras Bokhari, and Dilawar Firagh by Asjad Bokhari, Anjum Rizvi, Nusrat Ali, and Iqbal Lateef.
The third session was titled, “Urdu Adb Aalmi Tanazar Mmein” (Urdu literature in the international context). Aamir Hussain, a UK-based Pakistan author said that very few books of Urdu literature had been translated into English or other global languages. He said that there was need for more books in Urdu to throw light on our literary heritage.
Durmesh Ulger from Turkey, speaking in fluent Urdu but with an accent, said that Urdu teaching in Turkey had started 60 years ago. Presently, he said, the universities of Ankara, Istanbul, and Koniya had very well developed Urdu departments.
Farhat Parveen, a US-based Pakistani, said that Pakistani literature in Urdu was second to none and said that she had seen translations of Allama Iqbal’s works in Italy and said that the University of Rochester in New York had perhaps the best translation of Mirza Ghalib’s works. At the end of the conference certain resolutions were passed some of which were:
i)Urdu be declared the official language of Pakistan as engendered in the 1973 constitution
ii)Postal rates for the transmission of books and literary material between India and Pakistan be reduced by a substantial margin.
iii)Special efforts be made to acquaint the young generation with the rich, cultural and linguistic heritage and inculcate in them a love for Urdu.
iv) Bodies like the Academy of Letters and the National Book Foundation be declared autonomus organizations.
v)An Indian diplomatic mission be re-established in Karachi to facilitate travel, tourism and literary exchanges between the two countries.
Honorary membership of the Arts Council was conferred on Dr Shamim Hanafi, Naseer Turabi, and Dr. Nomanul Haq.
The well-attended four-day fifth international Urdu conference concluded at the Arts Council on Sunday evening.
Speakers and participants heaped plaudits on the organisers, the Arts Council of Pakistan, for having staged such a splendid event.
Lahore-based journalist Masood Asher, congratulating the organisers, said that the commencement of the conference was most timely and said people in places like Lahore had the impression that Karachi was all about targeted killings, robberies, and clashes, that people were confined indoors after dark for fear of being robbed or killed. He said that apart from being a very enriching exercise intellectually, the conference went a long way in erasing the fearsome image of the city that had been projected. He said that it was so reassuring to see that people in Karachi had this thirst for intellectual pursuits and that there was such a lot of literary talent.
Dr Nomanul Haq, of the Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS), lauding the venture said that it was a real source of pride that so many speakers and participants came from all over the country. Urdu, he said, was an international heritage and this conference had done the cause of the language a real service in perpetuating this heritage.
Mehmood Ahmed Khan, Vice-President, Arts Council recounted all the spadework that had gone into planning and holding the conference amid such trying and uncertain civic conditions. “We don’t have words to thank all those who helped us make the conference such a success”, Khan said.
Noted Urdu scholar from India Dr Shamim Hanafi, was highly impressed with the moot and hoped that travel restrictions between the two countries would be further eased so that people on both sides of the divide could participate in such productive ventures more often.
The first session of the day , titled, “Urdu ka ahd-e-afreen mazah”, pertained to humour in Urdu literature. There were readings from the works of Zameer Jaffrey, Ibne Insha, Patras Bokhari, and Dilawar Firagh by Asjad Bokhari, Anjum Rizvi, Nusrat Ali, and Iqbal Lateef.
The third session was titled, “Urdu Adb Aalmi Tanazar Mmein” (Urdu literature in the international context). Aamir Hussain, a UK-based Pakistan author said that very few books of Urdu literature had been translated into English or other global languages. He said that there was need for more books in Urdu to throw light on our literary heritage.
Durmesh Ulger from Turkey, speaking in fluent Urdu but with an accent, said that Urdu teaching in Turkey had started 60 years ago. Presently, he said, the universities of Ankara, Istanbul, and Koniya had very well developed Urdu departments.
Farhat Parveen, a US-based Pakistani, said that Pakistani literature in Urdu was second to none and said that she had seen translations of Allama Iqbal’s works in Italy and said that the University of Rochester in New York had perhaps the best translation of Mirza Ghalib’s works. At the end of the conference certain resolutions were passed some of which were:
i)Urdu be declared the official language of Pakistan as engendered in the 1973 constitution
ii)Postal rates for the transmission of books and literary material between India and Pakistan be reduced by a substantial margin.
iii)Special efforts be made to acquaint the young generation with the rich, cultural and linguistic heritage and inculcate in them a love for Urdu.
iv) Bodies like the Academy of Letters and the National Book Foundation be declared autonomus organizations.
v)An Indian diplomatic mission be re-established in Karachi to facilitate travel, tourism and literary exchanges between the two countries.
Honorary membership of the Arts Council was conferred on Dr Shamim Hanafi, Naseer Turabi, and Dr. Nomanul Haq.
Posted in: Karachi News
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