F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: A three day World Punjabi Conference bringing together over 300 poets and writers from different parts of the world including Pakistan will commence in New Delhi on December 24.
According to the schedule of forthcoming conferences announced by Chairman World Punjabi Congress Fakhar Zaman, the sixth Punjabi Conference in New Delhi will be followed by another in Vancouver, Canada May 23-25 and in the United States of America in the last week of December 2003.
The last four conferences of the current phase will be held in Holland and Norway 2004 and Germany and Thailand 2005 while the culminating one will be held in Lahore.
Fakhar Zaman said the phenomenal success of the conferences already organized in Pakistan, India and United Kingdom have given millions of Punjabis of the world a sense of identity and there was more awareness about Punjabi history, culture, literature and fine arts.
World Punjabi Congress’s committee will finalize delegation next month adding that preference will be given to progressive, enlightened writers, artists, journalists and members of various professions like medicine, business, human rights activists, engineers and teachers, he added.
LAHORE: Congress-I Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate the conference of the World Punjabi Congress scheduled to be held in New Delhi in December this year.
This was announced by WPC Chairman Fakhar Zaman at a meeting of its advisory council here on Tuesday.
Mr Zaman also gave details of the forthcoming conferences to be held in Vancouver (Canada) and New York (USA) in May 2003 and December 2003, respectively.
He said these three conferences to be held in India, Canada and the USA would be high-profile gatherings, as prominent writers, intellectuals and important personalities would attend these. The scheduled 12 conferences would conclude by 2005, he added.
The WPC’s advisory council expressed satisfaction over the last conference that was held in London and appreciated the London declaration, which sent a message of peace.
The council adopted a resolution, urging Indian and Pakistani governments to re-establish diplomatic relations at High Commission’s level and issue visas to writers, artists and intellectuals and to those who have relatives in both the countries.
The council also called for restoration of air, bus and rail links between the two countries, urging the governments of both the countries to enter a dialogue to remove irritants and establish peace.
The council decided that it would publish a book containing the proceedings of the WPC 2001 conference held in Lahore.
t also decided that it would establish a secretariat of the WPC in Lahore and equip it with all the modern facilities.