H.E. Syed Ibne Abbas, Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK opened the first
edition of the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) in London on Saturday,
October 29, 2016, at the BP Lecture Theatre of the British Museum.
Razi Ahmed, LLF’s founder and CEO along with his team put together an
impressive show featuring some of the finest writers and opinion-makers
from Pakistan, Britain Turkey and elsewhere. It was a well-attended full
day event that
attracted a large number of writers, poets, artists, think tank notables, students and media persons.
In his opening remarks, the High Commissioner said: “The Lahore Literary
Festival is an excellent initiative of Razi Ahmed and his team. This a
way forward to build bridges between our two countries. Bringing the two
countries closer on the cultural scene is the need of the hour and the
LLF has done the same. I welcome the LLF and the distinguished delegates
to this event.
“Next year is the 70th Independence Anniversary of Pakistan as well as that of
the establishment of Pakistan, UK diplomatic relations. The High
Commission for Pakistan in London has planned a series of events, the
first of which will kick start with our participation in the New Year
Day Parade in London. I invite you all and the LLF to be part of our
celebrations.
Speaking about latest developments in Pakistan and the UK, the High
Commissioner said: “In Pakistan and UK some momentous developments have
taken place. We signed China Pakistan Economic Corridor last year in
which $46 billion Chinese investment will be coming to Pakistan in
energy and infrastructure sectors.
Similarly, this June a very momentous development took place in this
country in the form of Brexit. We have to make the best of these
developments and opportunities on offer.”
The LLF featured a wide range of topics including the literature,
politics, literary legacy of Lahore, Kashmir: reportage, politics and
fiction, transforming education in Pakistan, pop culture and readings of
poetry and prose.
The delegates included Zia Mohyeddin, Elif Shafak, Razia Iqbal, Andrew
Whitehead, Farooq Bajwa, Mirza Waheed, Alex von Tunzelmann, Andrew Lycett, F. S.
Aijazuddin, Faiza Butt, Dr. Amin Jaffer, Seema Aziz, Peter Oborne, Dr. Robin
Niblett, Hina Rabbani Khar, David Loyn, Lyse Doucet, Naiza Khan, Sarmad Khoosat,
Fifi Haroon, Ziauddin Sardar, Nesrine Malik, Aamer Hussein, Ahsan Akbar, Ruth
Padel and Ananya Jahanara Kabir.
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