13th edition of ‘Aalmi Urdu Conference’ was inaugurated by Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Provincial Minister for Culture and Tourism, Government of Sindh here at the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) Karachi on 03rd December 2020. As stated earlier, this year’s urdu conference will be a lot different from all previous conference due to Corona outbreak. Limited number of scholars and intellectuals were seen at the inauguration ceremony and many more attended this inauguration ceremony online. This 13th edition of Aalmi Urdu Conference was seen live on social media pages of Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi all over the world.
Apart from Chief Guest Syed Sardar Ali Shah and host Muhammad Ahmed Shah other speakers who spoke their heart out were; Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, Zahida Hina, Noor-ul-Hadu Shah, Hasina Moin, Professor Sehar Ansari, Qudsia Akbar, Shah Muhammad Marri, Yusuf Kushk etc, while Iftikhar Arif, Gopi Chand Narang and Yasmeen Hameed addressed the video link.
Muhammad Ahmed Shah, President Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi said that; “13 years ago this dream was successfully carried-out, but today we are saddened at the inauguration the 13th Aalmi Urdu Conference because some people are not here with us in this conference”.
He said that; “due to the current situation, the participation of more people was avoided and many of our writers and poets are joining the conference through video-link in this Aalmi Urdu conference as we have continued this tradition and we want to keep this alive”.
President Arts Council further said; “no language of Pakistan is in conflict with Urdu but some people want to do politics on the basis of language. There is no difference of opinion among the intellectuals of different languages except for ideas”.
ACP Karachi has honoured many famous and well-renowned writers, intellectuals and artists including Josh Malihabadi, Sadequain, Mehdi Hassan, Kamal Ahmad Rizvi by naming different parts and sections at ACP being named after them.
On concluding note, he said; “the purpose of this Urdu conference is to bring together people of different ideas and let us know that philosophers and writers have created a society with their creations”.
Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Provincial Minister for Culture and Tourism, who was the special guest at Aalmi Urdu Conference, said that “Ahmed Shah must be given credit for trying to create a real Pakistan in the form of the Aalmi Urdu Conference. The four units of Pakistan are not administrative but constitutional. They have their own language and culture thousands of years old and the Aalmi Urdu Conference of ACP is a link to unite these cultures. This is the dream our elders had in the case of Pakistan”.
Provincial Minister for Culture said; “Sindh has never spoken of hatred. Sindh is the land of love. Urdu is made-up of many languages and today speakers of many of those languages are sitting here or attending this event online. Besides Urdu, languages of all nationalities should also be declared as national languages. A bill to declare other languages as national languages has been in the assemblies for ten years and we are hopeful that we can have that done soon. This is something that we won’t have to regret that as one of our neighbouring country has declared 26 languages as national languages”.
Yasmeen Hameed from Lahore while reading her keynote dissertation said that; “there is no limit to the literary era. The period from 1920 to 1936 is the end of one era and the beginning of another. Although not at that pace, but this era in an evolving era”.
Gopi Chand Narang, famous literary critic from India said that; “writers and Intellectuals should lead the society. It is the great responsibility of the writers to convey both aspects of the society to their readers. I was born in Balochistan and I did my matriculation from Balochistan, growing up in Balochistan gave me a lot about its culture. I learned Seraiki language early on and it runs my blood like milk. Seraiki language is milk, like the first stream joined in my blood”. He further added that; “the work of Karachi Arts Council is an example for the whole subcontinent.”
Iftikhar Hussain Arif, urdu poet famous for his romantic poetry said; “first of all love your language and your people. Languages have become a political issue in Pakistan. Many events have taken place in the centenary history of Urdu literature and this one go down as one to remember to its own reasons”.
Professor Sahar Ansari said that; “literature has never received as much attention in this century as it has before. Languages have never received as much attention as humans and animals are getting in this era the only difference between them is literature and languages have played a role in teaching literature”.
Leading Indian critic and poet Shamim Hanafi said that; “capturing our collective past would be fatal in every way and would limit and divide both the history and geography of our literary and cultural tradition, literature, culture and art. The treatment of the centres of power is the same everywhere, it needs to be improved”.
Professor Dr. Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui said that; “this Urdu conference is a practical demonstration of the best performance in adverse conditions. Literature speaks of the virtue of man and humanity”.
Famous Pakistani play-writer Noor-ul-Huda Shah said; “we have been plagued by the epidemic of hatred for years. We lost East Pakistan by being sick with the same epidemic. Only writers, poets and intellectuals have the cure for the decrease in hatred. Literature of any language will be connected with the virtue of man.”
Zahida Hina said that; “despite the cloud of war on the borders and the ongoing global epidemic, the convening of the Aalmi Urdu Conference is welcome. All language speakers in Pakistan should get their due”.
Dr. Shah Mohammad Marri said that; “they are working for the promotion of literature in Balochistan. For the betterment of the society, writers and intellectuals have to work round the clock”.
Well known writer Hasina Moin said that; “I loves Urdu language and someone who loves and shares is never disappointed”.
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