Zubair Qureshi
A three day literary festival is being organized under the umbrella of Capital Development Authority (CDA) from Friday (today) to Sunday in the federal capital’s F-9 Park.
Chairman of the CDA Capt (R) Noorul Amin Mengal at a press briefing held at Gandhara Centre (Citizen Club) Thursday informed the media persons that the authority had decided to organize the event on a self-help basis, without seeking support from private companies.
A committee, comprising former Chairman Kamran Lashari, former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad, well known media celebrity, Adeel Hashmi, and Member Environment CDA, has been established to oversee the festival, said he.
The objective of the festival, said Mengal, was to provide a platform to citizens to befriend books and rediscover their interest in literature, culture, art and especially book-reading
The three-day literary festival has been divided into two parts for the first time. Various programmes have been arranged on all three days which include Mushaira, Heer Goai, Manzil-Ba-Manzil Islamabad, theatre, cultural dances and musical nights. A panel discussion on Pakistani languages has also been made part of the festival. Besides, renowned poets such as Iftikhar Arif, Anwar Sahoor, Khurshid Rizvi, and Prof Ehsan Akbar will preside various sessions of the poetry recitals on the sidelines of the festival, said the chairman of the CDA.
Similarly, Hafeez Khan, Dr Saghira Sadaf, Abbasian Yousafzai and Dr Mohammad Yusuf will participate in the panel discussion. Three musical nights will also be organized. Artists from around the country including Shafqat Amanat Ali, Hadiqa Kayani, Sahir Ali and Sanam Marvi will perform.
CDA Chairman Noorul Amin Mengal said in the era of technology, today’s youth was moving away from literature and the festival was an effort to bring them back towards reading.
