Islamabad - Writers, editors and publishers at the 2nd day of the National ‘Adabi conference’ held at the Allama Iqbal Open University Saturday underlined the need for promoting book reading culture for reconstruction of the society.
Altogether there were eleven working sessions of the conference during the day, that were participated by eminent writers, columnists and book publishers from all over the country. They deliberated upon the role of literature in reconstruction of the society, said a press statement issued here. The first-working session during the day was devoted to the issues relating to publication of literature, difficulties in its way and future challenges.
The session was presided over by the Managing Director National Books Foundation, Dr Inamul Haq Javed, who gave an optimistic picture of books’ reading habit, stating that the Foundation published books worth Rs3,350 million in a period of about one year.
This, he said was reflective of a growing trend of book-reading habit in the country, that need to be supported at all levels. Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Shahid Siddiqui spoke about the academic efforts of the AIOU in promoting book-reading habit among the youth.
Dr Inam and other speakers including Farrukh Sohail Goindi, Afzal Ahmed, Gagan Shahid (Publishers) called for strengthening publishers-writers relationship to get better results in the books’ publication sector.
They also underlined the need of promoting professional caliber of books’ manuscripts reading, editing and correction.
They praised the efforts of Vice Chancellor AIOU and his team promoting book-reading culture among the students, through academic pursuits and literary activities.
The follow-up events during the day were a seminar on books’ translation and editing that was presided over by Sheraz Dasti. The speakers at the seminar included Yaseem Hameed, Dr. Ghulam Ali and Asim Bukhshi.
There were also panel-discussions relating to thoughts and poetic work of saint poet Mian Muhammad Baksh, Sheikh Ayaz and Zaitoon Bano, a strong pakhtoon voice.
The Adabi conference was 2nd literature festival (carnival) arranged by AIOU to develop the University as a hub of academic, social and literary activities.
It was formally inaugurated by the renowned writers Dr Atta-Ul-Haq Qasmi and Prof. Fateha Muhammad Malik.
They called for adhering to the thoughts of Muslim Philosopher Dr Muhammad Iqbal and other spiritual poets to achieve the desired results for reformation of the society on positive lines.
There was also a separate session of conference that deliberated upon the topic of literature, journalism and politics. It was addressed by prominent columnists Hamid Mir, Rauf Klasra, Wajahat Masood and Wajahat Mansori.
Later, Dean Social Sciences Dr Samina Awan thanked the participants for their active participation in the event that she hoped will contribute to the development of a knowledge-based healthy society.
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