Most Annually held Literary Festivals In Sindh Are Nothing More Than Self-promotion: Halar Nawaz

Halar Nawaz is a young and dynamic entrepreneur, is the financial strategist responsible for Roshni Publication’s investment strategy. Through his direction and efficient resource management, the publication house has moved into key high-growth Publishing areas, which have resulted in niche and specialized segments of growth. He holds a Master of Public Policy from NDU and currently spearheading Roshni Publication’s new initiative ‘Roshni Books, a bookstore chain. Recently Halar and his team organized a successful book reading festival at Khairpur Natan Shah (KN Shah), Sindh, in which hundreds of children of 17 public and private schools participated. While he also took the initiative of audio-books of classical Sindhi literature. 

(Children Reading Festival At KN Shah)

After that successful event "WiseSindh" got chance to get in touch with Halar, and he shared his experiences and thoughts regarding different literary festivals in Sindh. He was of the opinion that: 

"Unfortunately, most of the annually held literary occasions in Sindh province — instead of being the festivals that celebrate literature in its true sense — have become a sort of self-promotional events-cum-concerts. Despite being branded with rather grand title of ‘Literary Festivals’ and mostly being sponsored by the government agencies and its subsidiaries, these functions are by and large inversely affecting the ‘reading culture’ in the province through their confused interpretation and criss-crossed representation of the indigenous literature.

(Children Reading Festival At KN Shah)

Amidst these short-lived festivities; musical concerts, promotional events, commercial endorsements, entertainment gigs, these events are doing anything except endorsing one's personalized agenda under the garb of advancing our cultural outlook. What we really are missing are the concrete solutions [like disseminating new ideas and researches, annual reports, critical analysis, reading workshops, literary magazines, book club memberships, recommendations for private/public institutions etcetera] to propagate literature especially in the youth— which is always ever growing and now stands at 64% in the country — a literary call to arms. In the end, if all the millions that have been spent, and despite having a huge human resource backing, if such annual occasions aren't improving the deteriorating situation of our reading culture, objective reasoning, and critical thinking, then we are definitely going in the wrong direction.

Therefore, it is imperative that all our dear organizers and their partners should realize that a literary festival is a huge responsibility, and it ain't only about pulling up a crowd by adding entertainment ingredients and popular faces, but it's more about concrete and meaningful solutions, it's about bringing masses closer to reason, to literature, and most importantly, it's about inculcating a reading culture in order to develop their critical thinking.

Till that time, wishing you all, the one decade of charming illusion: Sindhi cultural activism—every year's deception and popular discontent."