Highlights of assorted cultural activities in Lahore included a dialogue between Pakistani and Indian students; visit to Kinnaird College for Women by old (Indian) students of the college; the formation of Pakistan-India Theatre Body; half-a-dozen exhibitions, a book launching ceremony; the observance of world puppetry day and a visit by Indian pop singer Daler Mehndi to the city.
In recent weeks, especially in the wake of the ongoing series of cricket matches between the teams of Pakistan and India, Indians in large numbers, including creative artistes and students, have visited Pakistan, especially Lahore, and participated in a variety of cultural events. These activities included their participation in a theater festival, student's get-togethers at the city's premier educational institutions and music concerts.
The residents of Lahore, true to their traditional hospitality, welcomed visitors from India with open arms, offering them all possible facilitative assistance in making their visit to the city memorable. Local artists, art institutions and students were in the forefront of this flurry of receptions for the Indians. Media managers from both the countries tried to make the best of these events, some with highly exaggerated euphoric outbursts, predicting solutions of all problems between the two countries within a short period of time. The formation of All Punjab Performing Arts Association was announced at the closing ceremony of Ajoka Theatre's 5-day festival in Lahore.
Quite a few among the gullible Pakistanis have not properly comprehended the nuances of subtle propaganda mileage being made by the Indian media out of the somewhat misplaced enthusiasm of the Pakistanis in welcoming their Indian guests. The two-nation theory and the cause of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who are killed by the dozens every week by the Indian occupation army, seemed to have drowned in the sea of welcome. The Indian visitors, representing all shades of public opinion and hailing from different walks of life discreetly remained silent about the Kashmir issue following the policy of their government. Their Pakistani hosts, on the other hand, went many miles ahead by according them extraordinary welcome.
Politically conscious and discerning citizens have raised their voices against welcoming the Indians in such a big way, totally forgetting the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir. Many eyebrows were raised when some Indian visitors at a forum in the city floated the idea of a 'United Punjab' through arts and culture. Their Pakistani hosts missed the point that by making such a suggestion the Indians had actually hit at the very foundations of the two-nation theory on which the Muslims of South Asia had demanded and got a separate homeland called Pakistan.
The most important visit to Lahore, from the standpoint of entertainment, was by Indian pop singer Daler Mehndi, who arrived in the city on March 19. Speaking at a news conference soon after his arrival he welcomed the peace process started by the Indian and Pakistani govermnents. Accompanied by 10 members of his group, Mehndi would have performed (by The time this piece goes to the press) in Karachi and Lahore to raise funds for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital.
Bargad, a non-governmental organization (NGO) sponsored the one-day Pak-India students' dialogue on youth cooperation at the Nairang Gallery in Lahore. After making mutually complimentary remarks and exchanging pleasantries, a local student raised The question of Kashmir, which has bedeviled The relations between the two countries for over haifa century. The response of The Indian students was strictly in line with the policy of Their government, which is to talk sweet without making any concession on the issue. Ideas regarding students exchange programs, co-productions by Pakistani and Indian filmmakers and more cricket matches were also floated at the moot.
Over a dozen former students (many among them have now turned into septuagenarians) visited their alma mater, K.innarid College for Women, Lahore, on March 15 after 56 years to reminisce about their youth and the days they spent in learning at this premier educational institution of higher learning. A special assembly was convened by the students of the college to provide a fonual platform for the Indians to speak their minds out. The Indians also participated in the Old Students Day of the college on March 20.
One of the greatest maestros of sitar music Ustad Wilayat Husain Khan died in a Mumbai hospital on March 14. The Lahore-based musicians have expressed their sense of sorrow and grief on the death of the matchless Muslim practitioner of the sub-continent classical music, who jolted the conscience of many an Indian by refusing to accept the highest civil award of India when it was offered to him after Pundit Ravi Shankar. The late ustad rightly claimed that he was eminently qualified to receive the award in sitar music but was sidelined when the Indian government honoured a Hindu, who was not as proficient in this kind of music as he was. As a mark of protest he migrated to London, where he settled permanently However, in later years he accepted the same award.. Son of the legendary sitar player Ustad lnayat Khan, the Bangladeshi born Wilayat Khan had rubbed shoulders with almost every frontline vocalist and instruments in the Sub-continent. He visited Lahore in the early 1950s on his way to Afghanistan to participate in Jashne-Kabul celebrations.
Among the half a dozen exhibitions held in Lahore this past week National Industrial Exhibition at Fortress Stadium drew large number of visitors, especially ladies, who made purchases of several domestic items available There on discounted rates. The maximum number of visitors to the exhibition was recorded on Sunday March 16.
Other exhibitions held in the city included a group display of the works of fresh NCA graduates on March 15 at the Alhamra Art Gallery; the Plastic Asia exhibition.2004 which opened in the city under the auspices of the Lahore Chamber of Arts and Industry on March 19; a display of works by some of the most experienced painters at Coopera Art Gallery; a five-artist show at Mahogany Galleries on March 17, exhibition of Japanese Kokeshi dolls at Alhamra Art Center on March 18 and Zahid Ahmed's debut as a writer at the National College of Arts on March 18. His maiden book Tikonay Diyare was launched on The occasion, where he also read a well-written Paper on his life and achievements as a painter and writer.
On March 20, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop in collaboration with French Cultural Center, held a one-day puppet festival at the Museum of Puppetry, Raiwind, a suburb of Lahore. The event was organized to celebrate The World Puppetry Day. Four puppet shows by The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop and two puppet shows by folk puppeteers were presented on The occasion. A large number of students and media persons visited the Museum to enjoy the show.
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