Caretaker Provincial Minister for Information and Culture Amir Mir held a press conference along with President Arts Council Pakistan, Karachi Muhammad Ahmad Shah and world renowned playwright and humorist Anwar Maqsood regarding upcoming Pakistan Literature Festival (PLF) at Al Hamra Lahore.
He said that the three-day festival will start from today in Al-Hamra, in which more than 50 sessions are being organised for art, painting, music, poetry, book fair, open session, seminars and other events. He said that promoting cultural events is very important to combat extremism in Pakistan. The Festival is a joint effort of Karachi Arts Council and Lahore Arts council. The provincial minister said that the feelings of affection and love can be spread rapidly in the society through arts and culture. PLF will prove to be a manifestation of national unity in which writers and intellectuals from all over the country are participating to play their role in promotion and development of national language and literature. He said that in this festival, the young generation will get an opportunity to see their heroes closely and listen to their thoughts. Amir Mir said that maintaining our golden traditions and values is the guarantee of the survival of our culture. It is hoped that our youth will dedicate themselves for the protection and prosperity of Pakistan. The provincial minister said that the current caretaker cabinet is not a burden on the national treasury. For the first time in history, no member of the cabinet, including the Chief Minister of Punjab, is getting salary, house or any protocol.
President Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi Muhammad Ahmad Shah thanked Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi, Provincial Minister information and culture Amir Mir, Information Secretary Ali Nawaz Malik, Executive Director Lahore Arts Council Zulfiqar Zulfi for providing full support in organizing the festival. He said that the festival has been started from Lahore because it is a historical city and the city of literature. He said that after Lahore, the festival will also be held in Gwadar, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar, Karachi and then in America Canada and many other countries. Renowned writer Anwar Maqsood said that the country in which literature survives goes forward. The joint effort of Karachi Arts Council and Lahore Arts Council will help in keeping literature and culture alive in the country by organizing PLF. He said that if there was no Lahore, there would be no Urdu. Even before and after the partition of India, Punjab served Urdu language a lot. He said that our young generation is a ray of hope for us.
