The 5th Faisalabad Literary Festival was held at Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Auditorium, Faisalabad Arts Council on 23 & 24 November, 2018. People from different walks of life thronged to attend the event that included participation of prominent writers, poets and actors. Legends such as Justice (Retd.) Nasira Javid Iqbal, famous scriptwriter; Anwar Maqsood, Asghar Nadeem, Ghazi Salahuddin, Nayyar Ali Dada, Kishwar Naheed, Najeeb Jamal, Arshad Mehmood, Asif Raza Mir, Jamal Shah, Yasmeen Tahir, Naeem Tahir, folk singer; Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi, Harris Khaliq, Arifa Syeda, Uxi Mufti, Former Caretaker Minister; Arif Nazami and famed puppet character in Pakistani children’s television; Uncle Sargam graced the event.
Deputy Commissioner Sardar Saifullah Dogar inaugurated the two-day festival. The opening session was presided over by Asghar Nadeem Syed while other literary figures delivered speeches. Welcoming the literary figures and organizers of the festival, Sardar Saifullah said that literary personalities are precious asset of society who guide people and promote positive thinking through their poetry and writings.
The first session was ‘Khawab daikhnay wala muaashra’ and the guest speakers were Ghazi Salahuddin, Dr.Sheeba Alam, Dr.Nasira Javed Iqbal and Asghar Nadeem Syed. Dr. Nasira said that our people are capable enough to accomplish their dreams with their patience & strive. Ghazi Salah-u-din shared that a big city can’t survive if people of that society are not benefiting from their public library to find the ways how to fulfill their dreams. All the participants shared their point of views in this regard.
Session ‘Visionary Talks’ with Musadaq Zulqarnain and Shiekh Shahzad was very informative and enlightening. Musadaq said that ‘it will be a great achievement and our destination will be the sky if we provide positive and better opportunities to this generation’.
An exclusive session ‘In memory of Madiha Gauhar’ was also hosted at this year’s FLF to honor the outstanding contributions of prolific theater and human rights activist Madiha Gauhar for the revival of socially relevant theater in Pakistan and projection of the oppressed segments through her inspiring productions. After this intriguing session, Haris Khalique and Mina Malik talked about new horizons of English fiction in Pakistan. Actor and artist Jamal Shah, Uxi Mufti, Harris Khalique and Arifa Syed shared their views regarding ‘Tareekh Aur Virsay sey Mehroomi – Tehzeeb Ki Ghumshudgi’ Famous folk singer Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi engaged the audience with the problems he faced when pursuing singing.
The festival was a positive step towards promotion of knowledge, literature and fine arts and it provided the best recreation to literature lovers.
