AIOU Literature Conference Concludes

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Apr, 2018 ) :Eminent writers and columnists on the third and concluding Day of Literature (Adabi) conference held here on Sunday at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) called for a positive role of the social media in reconstructing the society.

Those who participated in the day's deliberations included renowned writers Iftikhar Arif, Wajaht Masood, Zahida Hina, Manzar Naqvi, Fatima Hasan and Khurshid Nadeem. Welcoming the participants, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui said that the University was playing its positive role in addressing the socio-economic issues of the society through academic, literary and social activities.

The Adabi Conference was the part of Literature carnival that has been made an annual feature to promote role of literature and language in the society's reformation. The third-day's activities included a sitting with famous fiction and story writer Zahida Hina, besides launching of two books 'Chargh Zar, written by Akhtar Usman and 'Jo surat nazar aayee' by Farooq Adil.

Deliberating upon the role of literature and the social media, the participants pointed out that it is the social responsibility of educational institutions to create awareness among the youth as how best they could use the social media for their education and proper brought up.

They appreciated the AIOU for its leading role in projecting healthy practices. Listing the pros and cons of the social media, they said it could be destructive for the society if its proper use is not ensured.

Literature, they said is inter-connected with the society's overall growth and due to its wide-access, the social media has become more dominating. The social media is leaving deep impact on the society, as its access is available to everyone who is free to express himself.

Authenticity and creditability of the contents appeared on facebook, twitter and websites are very important.

There should be a code of conduct for this purpose, they emphasized. During the three-day of literature carnival, altogether there were eleven working sessions which were participated by eminent writers, columnists and books' publishers from all over the country.

They deliberated upon the role of literature in reconstruction of the society. The first-working session 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 painted an optimistic picture of books' reading habit, stating that the Foundation itself published books worth Rs 3350 million in a period of about one year.

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.

The follow-up event was a seminar on books' translation and editing that was presided over by Dr 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 conference was inaugurated by the renowned writers Dr.

Atta-Ul-Haq Qasmi and Prof Fateha Muhammad Malik. 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.

Dean Social Sciences, AIOU 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.