By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: National Language Promotion Department (NLPD) has held an international conference on popular poets Rumi and Iqbal at its Aiwan Urdu Hall.
The event was chaired by distinguished poet, researcher, critic and intellectual Professor Jalil Ali and Dr. Khalil Toqar.
Well-known writer and researcher from Canada, Dr. Taqi Abidi, was the chief guest of the event. Whereas, scholar, writer and poet Dr. Abdul Rauf Rafiqui was the honorary guest on the occasion.
“Philosophy becomes outdated, but creative texts continue to be reinterpreted,” said Professor Jaleel Aali.
“Iqbal is not only a poet of Khudi but also of bay khudi. His concept of art is that if an art piece plays a constructive role in life, then it is the best, but it is useless if it doesn’t create movement and agitation”, he remarked.
NLPD organizes Int’l conference on famous poets Rumi, Iqbal
Director General (DG) of the NLPD, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Saleem Mazhar while thanking the participants of the event, said that Allama Iqbal was the closest follower of Maulana Jalal ud deen Rumi. “Masnavi Maulana Rumi is a masterpiece book of world literature that has six volumes, out of which five volumes are in the name of beloved student Chalipa,” he concluded.
A large number of the public, writers and poets were in attendance at the event.
Earlier, Pakistan has a rich pool of literary talent, but new authors face challenges in finding willing publishers to print their work. Talking to the media on Sunday, a writer, folklorist, and the creative founder of Lok Virsa, Uxi Mufti highlighted the need for support in the country’s publishing industry.
He noted that established publishing houses favour well-known authors, while smaller publishers often require authors to pay for the opportunity to be published. In the traditional model, he said that writers receive royalties for their work but in the current scenario, many budding writers are asked to pay publishers for printing their books, with no guarantee that their work will reach a wider audience.
The writer underlined the demand for Urdu literature abroad, particularly in India.
“This demand is largely being met by individuals who buy books in Pakistan and resell them overseas at inflated prices, without providing any royalties to the publishers or writers”, he maintained.
He noted that institutions like the Academy of Letters, National Book Foundation and National Language Promotion Department (NLDP) were established to promote a culture of reading and writing. However, he said that these institutions have lost sight of their primary objective and are now publishing books themselves, which is further weakening the publishing industry. Uxi Mufti stressed that government institutions should focus on supporting and promoting publishers, rather than publishing books themselves. By doing so, he said that Pakistan can create a thriving literary ecosystem that will allow its talented writers to flourish.
