RAWALPINDI:Rawal Literature Festival 2023 started at the Punjab Council of the Arts (PAC) here on Tuesday.
The inaugural session was presided over by renowned poet and writer Dr Ehsan Akbar, while Irfan Ahmed Urfi hosted the session.
While addressing the opening ceremony Dr. Ehsan Akbar said that the Rawal literature festival was an excellent effort to promote literature in the region.
“For many decades, he said that a large-scale literary festival has not been organized in the Potohar region.” Director of Arts Council Waqar Ahmed said that a nation whose culture dies cannot survive. “There are many hatreds and quarrels in our society and we have to end these hatreds by developing literature and culture.”
Waqar said that the message of brotherhood, peace and friendship will connect the youth of Pakistan with literature and culture through the festival.
Assistant Director PAC Muhammad Suleman on the occasion said that the literary fair contains the treasures of knowledge.
“Intellectual construction is also indispensable, along with the construction of buildings in any country,” he added.
He further said that literature and culture were the only way to unite us at a centre.
The second session of the Rawal Literature Festival “Shayari Ka Manzar Nama” was held under the chairmanship of Dr Ehsan Akbar, in which Dr. Saeed Ahmed acted as host.
Jalil Ali, Naseer Ahmad Nasir, Akhtar Usman, Ali Mohammad Farshi, Naheed Manzoor Naseem Sahar,Khuram Khaliq, Hasan Abbas Raza, Mehboob Zafar, Anjam Salimi, Dr Roosh Nadeem, Arshad Meraj, Abdsial, Rukhsana Sukh, Fakhira Noreen, Rashida Mahin Malik, Mahmuda Ghazia and Mazhar Shehzad had a fascinating discussion on the rise and fall of poetry and got applause from the audience.
In the third session “Performing Art and Contemporary Age” Naseem Ahmed Arif, Arshad Chahal, William Parvez, and Asma Butt participated as panellists, while the duties of the host were performed by the well-known writer Farheen Chaudhry.
The participants in the panel shed light on the innovations in the performing arts.
The speakers said that the perspective of performing art was changing with time. “With the innovation of social media platforms, performing art has completely changed,” they added.
A large number of people from the twin cities and the Potohar region participated in the opening ceremony.