KARACHI - The Karachi Literature Festival attracted a large number of people on its second day on Saturday.

The day started with a range of sessions, one of them on “Bringing the Past into the Present” where Dr Framji Minwalla and Nomanul Haq had a conversation with Ayesha Jalal.

Ayesha Jalal shared her views on relations between the two countries and among all countries in South Asia. She said, “We need decolonisation of the mind and by that we need to go beyond the British assumptions about this region. This applies to both India and Pakistan.” She highlighted the importance of religion and said this was what brought two nations into existence.

“PAKISTAN: A Fragile State or Resilient State” was moderated by Mujahid Barelvi, a well-known journalist, commentator, author and vigorous defender of freedom of expression.

The session discussed the current situation of the state and its ability to stand on its feet. After introducing the panellists for the session, he opened the discussion with a verse from Habib Jalib’s poetry, “Kahan Qatil Badlte Hain, Faqat Chehre Badlte Hain; Ajab Apna Safar Ha, Faasle Bhi Saath Chalte Hain.”

Opening the discussion, Mian Raza Rabbani, chairman of the Senate, shed light on Pakistan as a resilient state. He said that Pakistan had been engaged in the war against terrorism since its inception in 1947. “We are still struggling with the economic turmoil that we as a nation have been through for years,” he said.

Praising the resilience of the intellectuals, labourers and ordinary citizens of the state, he pointed out the fact that the state was eating this resilience of the nation by cutting their hands so that they don’t ask questions or raise voices against injustices of the state and become spectators or rather silent victims. As he mentioned, “The government in its deliberate attempt to change the ideology of Pakistan has neglected the speeches of the Quaid that project Pakistan as a progressive state and not a garrison state that it has become now.”

Contributing to the discussion, Mr Hamid said, “We, even after 70 years of our existence, are still not being able to face the truth and the facts. Our ignorance has already led to the separation of Bengal.” He continued on a lighter note, “They think they separated with us, but I think we separated them from us.” The session concluded on the note that “our issues aren’t external; they are internal”.

Ahmed Rashid said, “Until we develop a coherent narrative, shared by our political, military and civil system that includes all the elements, we cannot fight extremism.”

The most awaited session of the day was “Phool aur Shabnam” hosted by famous Bushra Ansari in the honour of Jharna Basak, better known by her stage name Shabnam, the famous film artist. She last visited Pakistan in 2012 along with her husband where they both got the lifetime achievement award from the government of Pakistan. She was so delighted and overwhelmed by the response and love she received from her Pakistani fans.

During the session, she went into the nostalgic feel of the older times and shared her experiences with the audience. “I would love to come back here and I will come whenever the people of Pakistan will call me,” she said. She said that she respected the immense love that she received here. When she was asked, “Will you accept the offer to work in a Pakistani movie?”, she said, “I’d love to.”

The session, International and Regional Politics, was moderated by Dr Huma Baqai and the panellists for this session were Mathew A Cook, Zia Mian, Najmuddin Shaikh and Asad Sayeed. The issue discussed was Pakistan’s strategic position in this fiasco of whether CPEC was in its favour or it was just another attempt towards development by the government.  According to Zia, Pakistan has become China’s Israel now. “Chinese see Pakistan as their military client and this is what we have already experienced because of our brotherly and cordial relations with the US,” he said with a grin on his face.

Answering the question asked by Huma Baqai, Najmuddin Shaikh said, “We are looking at CPEC just as a road and not as one aspect of a bigger picture.” He said the mindset behind the CPEC compelled Pakistanis to let others take care of their problems instead of correcting their mistakes on their own.

There were 11 book launch events at KLF on Saturday -- High-Life in Pakistan by Regula Bubb; Nobody Killed Her by Sabyn Javeri; The Party Worker by Omar Shahid Hamid; Tum Kabeer and Qila-e-Faramoshi by Fehmida Riaz; Sadequain and the Culture of Enlightenment by Akbar Naqvi; How Pakistan Got Divided by Rao Farman Ali; August Voices by Sudheendra Kulkarni; Teesra Qadam by Nasira Zuberi; Kalaam-e-Aarifaan by Hasan Aziz and Erotext: Desire, Disease, Delusion, Dream, Downpour by Sudeep Sen.

The session “Roshan Khayali: Homage to Sibte Hasan” included a 10-minute documentary of the work of Sibte Hasan who is known to be the pioneer of Socialism and Marxism in Pakistan.

Sneak Preview of The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossak by H M Naqvi hosted by Dr Framji Minwala gave an overview of the book, the passion of the writer for this city and how he looks at the development this city and its residents have made.  The second day of the event came to an end with a Mushaira where renowned poets of the country like Kishwar Naheed, Anwar Shaoor, Fehmida Riaz, Peerzada Qasim, Imdaad Hussaini, Afzal Ahmad Syed, Naseem Syed, and many others recited their poetry.