Afkar-e-Taza ThinkFest offers a 'breathing space' to Lahorites
Pakistan
Literary festival's eighth edition begins on Saturday (Jan 11)
This year's theme for the event is: A dialogue between past and present
Historians, academics and authors from home and abroad are set to grace event
Sessions on diversified themes to be held
LAHORE (Dunya News) - The fabled city of Lahore has been in the news for quite some time for a wrong reason: smog.
The noxious fumes in the air make most parts of the city inhabitable, depriving people of moments of relief and recreation.
Amid the hazards of living under a smog cloud, Lahorites – especially literary and intellectual circles - hanker after creative pursuits in the city which once was known as a centre of enlightenment and conviviality.
Afkar-e-Taza ThinkFest endeavours to offer the proverbial breathing space to the people interested in history, arts, culture and free speech. It launched its eighth edition on Saturday (Jan 11).
The two-day event to be held at the Alhamra Arts Council “promises to be a celebration of innovative ideas and critical discourse.”
This year’s theme for the event is: A dialogue between past and present
GALAXY OF LITERARY STARS
Historians, academics and authors from home and abroad are set to grace the event.
Also Read: A festival that made people think
The distinguished guest speakers include historian Ayesha Jalal (Tufts University USA), Stefan Dercon (Oxford), Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Jasper Becker (Journalist), Mahmood Mamdani (Columbia University), S. Akbar Zaidi (IBA Karachi), Najam Sethi, Rashid Mahmood Langrial (FBR), Hina Rabbani Khar, Moeed Yusuf, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, David Gower, Tahir Kamran, Miftah Ismail, Mohsin Hamid and Mira Nair.
SESSIONS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES
The event boasts an array of interesting and informative sessions to be moderated by seasoned professionals. The sessions include:
Politics in Polarised Times (Malik Ahmad Khan and Barrister Ali Zafar with Mehmal Sarfraz)
Why does He Tax Us So Much (Rashid Langrial with Miftah Ismail)
What Remains for the Judiciary (Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah with Feisal Naqvi)
Remembering Lahore’s Bapsi (Shaista Sonu Sirajuddin, Asma Niaz, Perin Cooper Boga with Mina Malik)
Read More: Welcome to world of ideas and plurality
Karachi: Gunpoint Capitalism (Laurent Gayer with Khurram Hussain)
Can Muslims be enlightened (Ayesha Jalal with Raza Rumi)
Cricket: The Art of Captaincy (David Gower, Sana Mir, Aamir Sohail with Najam Sethi)
AI, Fake News and the Fight for Digital Rights (Bruno Macaes and Nighat Dad with Sadaf Khan)
Made in China: Wuhan, Covid and the Quest for Biotech (Jasper Becker and Zafar Mirza with Natasha Anwar)
Panj Darya (Jugnu Mohsin with Mushtaq Soofi)
26th Amendment: Text and Context (Salman Akram Raja, Maryam S. Khan, Saroop Ijaz, Asad Rahim Khan with Noorzadeh Raja)
