Staff ReporterFormer chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa has said “Many judges including me are interested
in art & literature and I am planning to return back to this way. Law and literature are similar in many
ways”. At the occasion of the inauguration ceremony of 2nd Adab Festival former Pakistan’s
representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi in her speech said “Together with the intellectuals
we need to create the positive image of Pakistan globally. We have to make our foreign policy according
to the global approach of our country”. Soft power and quick diplomacy: that is what we need, said
Maleeha in her keynote speech. She said that there wasn’t going to be much poetry in her speech, just
diplomacy. “My perspective this evening is as a practitioner. I am sharing what I have learnt through
experience,” she said. “There was no manual for me. I did a lot of learning on the job. I hope this will
help you understand a very important aspect of diplomacy that I feel is undervalued and under-
appreciated in our country.”Before discussing her personal experiences, Lodhi talked about the global
landscape, new opportunities and concepts of power. She explained that it was no longer just a
country’s military or economic strength that mattered but also multipolarity, network and coalition,
being quick on your feet and a nation’s brand. She said that this was important because citizen voices
are now amplified by the digital age.Earlier addressing the audience President Arts Council Muhammad
Ahmed Shah said we support to those organizations that are serving to Urdu literature. The prominent
literary personalities such as Muhtaq Ahmed Yosufi and Jameeluddin Aali are no more with us but their
name will always live in the history of Urdu literature”. Further he said that last year, Ameena Saiyid
started organizing the Adab festival which is now running successfully. In the opening ceremony,
Founder of Adab Festival Ameena Saiyid said “The literature festival was founded a decade ago which
has now become a thriving tree. I am glad that this literature festival is covering a wide variety of topics”
Along with the literary & political personalities like Asif Farrukhi, Shaiyma Syed, Iftikhar Arif, Kishwar
Naheed, Stefan Winkler ,former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, IG Police Sindh Kaleem Imam, this
event was attended by a large number of literature lovers. On the occasion a puppet show was
presented by THE THESPIANZ THEATRE and poetry of Habib Jalib was beautifully presented by the young
musicians & singers. The day concluded with the Qawali performance of famous Qawals Abu
Mohammad and Fareed Ayaz.
