(Web Desk) - A two-day 17th Mir Punjabi Mela was organized at the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture (PILAC) in memory of the great Punjabi poet and intellectual Professor Ali Arshad Mir.
Writers, artists, poets, scholars, and the general public from across Punjab participated to express their love for their mother tongue and Punjabi culture.
The sessions focused on Punjabi language, literature, and the poetry of Professor Ali Arshad Mir. On the first day, Ilyas Ghuman spoke on contemporary Punjabi politics. Other sessions addressed the future of Punjab’s rivers, government policies, growing extremism in Punjab, and the politics surrounding dams on Punjab’s rivers.
Additional sessions explored Punjabi folk traditions, linguistic fundamentalism, farmers’ issues in Punjab, and modern Punjabi poetry influenced by Ali Arshad Mir. Prominent speakers included Professor Ghulam Hussain Sajid, Dr. Saeed Bhutta, Dr. Kalyan Singh, Farooq Nadeem, Raja Sadiq Ullah, and Irfan Comrade. Session coordination was handled by Dr. Sarmad Farogh, Akhtar Khan, Saadia Comrade, and Farooq Nadeem.
The Kahani Darbar featured Tahir Sindhu, Professor Zubair Ahmed, Karamat Mughal, Ijaz Ali, Saeed Anjum Khokhar, Sabir Ali Sabir, Usman Bajwa and Ehtesham Kazim. Painting and calligraphy competitions were also held, themed around Ali Arshad Mir’s poetry and Punjabi culture.
On the second day, discussions covered Punjabi politics and organizations, challenges in promoting Punjabi research, issues faced by young Punjabi writers, cultural impacts of provincial divisions, government claims of cultural patronage versus neglect of Punjabi language, and Punjabi theatre.
The festival also featured music, Sufi dance, and folk performances by Dr. Taimur Rahman (Laal Band), Shujaat Ali Khan, Shiraz Ali Khan, Hasnain Abbas Lonewala, Ahmed Lonewala and others.