Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi and the International Arts Society (USA), jointly organised 1st Aalmi Urdu Conference in Houston, in which Ahmed Faraz’s ghazals, theatre plays, classical dances and international mushaira remained the centre of attention of the audience. Speaking to the event as chief guest President of the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi Muhammad Ahmad Shah said that 16 years ago, when the series of Aalmi Urdu Conferences was started, at that time, Urdu medium was considered closer to abuse in society.
Today English mediums sit on the ground listening to ghazals and watching dance and drama. The Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi now can host international cultural conferences. The fame of the works of the Arts Council has crossed the country’s borders and reached the United States. He said that Pakistani citizens should live in any country of the world; they should maintain their relationship with their language, literature and culture; this is their identity. He said that it is admirable that people who have been living in America, Canada and other countries for two and a half decades are still attached to their language and literature and the Aalmi Urdu Conference held in Houston today is proof of this. Ahmad Shah said that when we started this conference 16 years ago, some people thought that it would not last for more than a few years, and during that time the situation in Karachi was such that it was difficult to hold the conference due to terrorism.
The conference was being held at the Arts Council, and bodies were falling outside. At that time, we vowed to fight terrorism with poetry, dialogue and literature and art, time proved that our tools were more powerful than guns, and we defeated terrorism with language and literature. Ahmad Shah said that today the Aalmi Urdu Conference had become a big brand which has spread not only to the subcontinent but also to its circle of friends in Europe and America. Addressing the international community, he said that Pakistan is an enlightened democratic country where tolerance, dialogue, art, music, literature and art are given importance.
The Pakistani nation has the potential to expand the relationship of mutual trust with the democratic and enlightened society of the world. He said that Pakistan has an invaluable wealth of culture and heritage, and we are willing to cooperate with cultural societies, Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi is a member of the World Cultural Conference and work is being done to organize the World Cultural Conference.