With the joint cooperation of Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi and IBA University Sukkur, a press conference regarding the two-day “Pakistan Literature Festival 2023” (Sukkur Chapter) was held at IBA Sukkur in campus 1 auditorium. President Arts Council Muhammad Ahmad Shah, Vice Chancellor IBA University Sukkur Professor Dr. Asif Ahmed Sheikh, Mayor Sukkur Barrister Arslan Islam Sheikh, Chairman District Council Sukkur Syed Kumail Haider Shah, HOD IBA Sukkur Abdul Wahid Qazi and President of Sukkur Arts Council Mumtaz Bukhari provide a detail briefing about the festival.
On this occasion, President Arts Council Muhammad Ahmad Shah while giving a briefing said that chief minister Sindh Justice(r) Maqbool Baqar will inaugurate the Pakistan Literature Festival on October 28, Arts Council of Pakistan is promoting the culture of Karachi Sindh, through culture we want to bring people together who are divided in different societies, I have been managing the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi for 16 years. He also said that he did Urdu conference in Houston and Chicago meanwhile we also arranged Pakistan Literature Festival at Lahore and Kashmir.
Mumtaz Bukhari’s services are appreciable, IBA Sukkur has full cooperation with us for which I am thankful to them, I am sure that the Pakistan Literature Festival in Sukkur will be a bigger festival than Lahore. Students became hyperactive to attend this event. Vice-Chancellor IBA University Sukkur Professor Dr. Asif Ahmad Sheikh said that Sukkur IBA is an exemplary University but I did too much efforts for its success, he said, when I heard that the Arts Council organizing the Pakistan Literature Festival in Sukkur, I spoke to Ahmed Shah on the phone and asked him to hold the festival in IBA Sukkur.
Today Alhamdulillah, two or three months of hard work is going to bear fruit, I think that after Karachi, there will not have been any bigger program in Sukkur, it is not only the honor of IBA but of the whole of Sukkur, he said that Pakistan Literature Festival is helpful to Engaging our youth with literature, the festival will offer you all kinds of sessions including literature, journalism, education, discussions on Sindhi literature, mushaira and musical programs and many others sessions, we arrange a family festival. He said that Abdul Wahid Qazi has worked day and night for this festival, Ahmed Shah’s team is commendable, Chief Minister Sindh will inaugurate the Pakistan Literature Festival in Sukkur while Governor Sindh. Kamran Khan Tessori will participate in its closing ceremony, Mayor Sukkur Barrister Arslan Islam Sheikh said that Arts Council Karachi has chosen Sukkur city for such a big festival, I think that whoever comes here is not a guest but a host. It has sessions on education, cruelty to children and old traditions, we should promote our culture in which Pakistan Literature Festival will play a very important role, Chairman District Council Sukkur Syed Kumail Haider Shah said.
He further said that there are very few such programs in Sukkur, 10 to 15 years ago I used to work for literature and culture. He said that people used to gather at different places, he has provided them with a platform; he gives full assurance of the festival taking place in Pakistan Literature Festival, President Sukkur Arts Council Mumtaz Bukhari said that actually the Pakistan Literature Festival started from Karachi. It has happened, we are just going to be a part of it, Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi is the first organization to promote art and culture, Ahmed Shah is working for art and culture at the international level, The session has been held in which we should identify the mistakes spread in the society so that it can be corrected and Sindh government is playing an important role for the promotion of art and culture.