Addressing the concluding session of the four-day 4th international conference on `Language, Literature and Society' arranged by Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) here, the president said though every segment of the society was responsible to expose the inhuman agenda of extremists but the writers and poets could play an unmatchable role in that regard.
He opined that literature was a mode of expression which could bring about a long lasting change in the people's minds and thoughts.
The event was also attended by Adviser to Prime Minister on National History and Literary Heritage Irfan Siddiqui, Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan, Pakistan Television Chairman Ataul Haq Qasmi, PAL Chairman Dr Qasim Bogio, writers, poets and intellectuals coming from across Pakistan as well as abroad.
The president said in international scenario, the future of the world was everyone's worry with every one questioning as whether the war would ever come to an end.
He questioned as to why the issues like hatred, extremism, violence and hypocrisy were getting grave and the hopes for improvement were diminishing.
The president viewed that the conference would become a source for sharing thoughts as well as awareness on the contemporary and literary trends. The comprehension of such trends and mindset generating consequent to extremism, lawlessness and bloodshed would help create an atmosphere of reconciliation and co-existence thus ultimately strengthening the world peace.
Following the creation of such an atmosphere, the president said, the negative forces would weaken and the people would be able to make the world more beautiful and conducive for their development and prosperity.
He observed that the young writers and poets were keen to explore new avenues by learning from the literary and cultural trends and experiences of the sages for what they must be encouraged.
He said the languages not only fulfilled the social needs but in a multilingual country like Pakistan, those became a strong source of national harmony also. The Pakistani languages were bound by the cultural, ethnic and civlizational commonalities which ultimately brought the people closer to one another.
President Mamnoon said the promotion of language and literature was linked with the mutual contacts and learning from each other's'experiences. It was inevitable to mould new experiments in languages according to the local needs that would open up new avenues for expression of thoughts.
He was of the view that such experiments were of more importance for a multilingual society like Pakistan so that along with Urdu, the regional languages could also flourish to take part in the national development and bring about the national unity.
President Mamnoon also conferred awards on renowned poet Kishwar Naheed and novelist Abdullah Hussain that was received by his daughter Noor Fatima.
AJK President Sardar Masood Khan stressed the need for using the language and literature for peace, national unity, social development and social justice.
He said Urdu was now spoken in almost 100 states due to the migrants.
He urged the litterateurs to play their role to spread a message of hope among the people and become a strong force against aggression and injustice.
The AJK president also asked the writers and poets to highlight the Indian brutalities in their works so that the Kashmiris' truth might prevail over the Indian baseless propaganda.
Adviser to the Prime Minister Irfan Siddiqui viewed that the literature had no boundaries, religion or language as it was all about humanity.
He told the gathering that the creation of a separate National History and Literary Heritage Division was in fact the brainchild of President Mamnoon to bring all literary institutions under an umbrella.
He said the conference had to be rescheduled to current dates as an opposition party had announced a sit-in on the dates coinciding the previous schedule.
He said the Division would continue holding such conferences in all major cities of Pakistan.
Lauding the performance of the PAL and his team for holding the event, the Adviser said at the Division they worked in a friendly atmosphere.
He appreciated the prime minister's generosity to support the Division and announcement of Rs 500 million for endowment fund what he assured would be spent purely for the promotion of literature and welfare of the writers and poets.
He said a committee would be formed to examine the works of the literati's works and their onward publication.
He said the support amount for writers had been increased from Rs 5,000 to 13,000 and the number of entitled recipients had also been increased from Rs 500 to 1,000.
He said the prime minister also approved increase of insurance amount from Rs 0.1 million to 0.4 million with the number of policy holders also increased from 354 to 700. The writers' awards had also been increased from previous 11 to 20.
PAL Chairman Dr Qasim Bogio told the conference that out of 500 papers they had received, 307 were shortlisted and presented at the event.
He said the conference was attended by the writers, poets and intellectuals from China, Afghanistan, Spain, Oman, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Turkey and others.
He said the PAL had set a translation centre that had already translated two books and another 20 were in pipeline.
In his address, Secretary National History and Literary Heritage Division Amir Hassan apprised the audience about the efforts made by the Division staff and those from other institutions to make this effort a success.
Thanking all the relevant institutions for their support, he hoped that the event would help bring a positive change in the society.
PTV Chairman Attaul Haq Qasmi said the international conference was a new tradition set the by PAL and the interest by the prime minister and president in literary activities was also laudable.
He said besides senior writers and poets, the universities from across Pakistan also got registered their young scholars, who got a tremendous opportunity to learn from the sages.
President of Chinese Writers Association also emphasized the role of writers and poets for societal reformation.
Talking to APP after conclusion of the conference, Kishwar Naheed said the moot was a great opportunity to share thoughts with intellectuals and writers coming from across the country, including FATA, and even from abroad.
He said such a gathering of men of letters was meant to give a message that the people wanted peace not bloodshed or rapes.
She said the society wanted to permanently get rid of incidents like the girl child home servant Tayyiba who suffered torture at her workplace.
To a question, she said the message of the conference would go internationally through media, particularly the social media.
Managing Director National Book Foundation Inamul Haq Javed, who has dozens of publications to his credit, said the international conference provided an opportunity to the litterateurs to learn about new challenges and trends in language and literature.
He said after their interaction with the intellectuals of national and international repute, the participants would feel a clear difference in their thinking that would ultimately impact their works too.
He rejected the notion that after the flood of information technology and social media, the book reading culture was on decline and substantiated his claim citing the presence of huge gatherings at literary events.
Tash Mirza, an Urdu language professor from Uzbekistan, also appreciated the holding of the conference on the subject.
He believed that if the resolution passed by the conference was enforced in true spirit, it would help bring positive changes in the society, besides promotion of the language and literature.
Abdul Karim Baryalai, a multilingual writer and poet from Balochistan, said the holding of an international language conference was a success that provided them an opportunity to personally meet their contemporaries and share thoughts and experiences.
Baryalai has established Zareef Kakar Foundation after his father's name and penned around 20 books in Balochi, Pashto and Urdu, besides translating several foreign literature books in native languages.
He called for promotion of regional literature by providing the writers and poets such opportunities to present their works as well as through translating their publications in different languages so that non-natives could also benefit from their works.