PESHAWAR: The five-day literature festival concluded here with participants pledging to continue efforts for empowering women to play their role with confidence, freedom and vision in the society.

The participants of festival vowed to continue raising their voice using literary, cultural and political platforms for their due rights.

Provincial ministers for finance and social welfare Muazmil Aslam and Syed Qasim Ali Shah were guests of honour on the occasion. They paid tributes to organisers of the event. Irfan Khan, chief of Dosti Welfare Organisation, reflected on the role of women in society, saying it was a transformative event with in-depth discussions on diverse topics regarding women.

The five-day second edition of women literature was arranged under the banner of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University (SBBWU) and Dosti Welfare Organisation (DWO) where a large number of poets, writers, entrepreneurs and professionals from parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa showed up.

The title of the five-day literature festival was ‘consciousness and awareness’ for future challenges with an objective to celebrate women’s incredible contributions to societal change, defying obstacles, taboos, stereotypes and clichés. The participants of the event rejected male’s perspective of women’s role in the society being reflected in literature down the ages.

Through 100 panel discussions, documentaries and poetry recitals, about 25 book launches, authors’ talks, literati and scholars highlighted various aspects of women’s role, contributions and their vision and vowed that they would continue their efforts to make women’s role effective and result-oriented for future.

Events were arranged on different venues to pay tributes to renowned women for scaling heights of success in various fields despite restrictions and hardships and contributed to societal change including literature, education and culture through their bold expression and creative strength.

Prof Dr Safia Ahmad, the vice-chancellor of SBBWU, in her closing remarks said that women had the potential to contribute to society through their leadership skills and strong capabilities as they were equipped with access to modern hi-tech facility and required more such platforms.

“Students, faculty members of SBBWU and volunteers deserve our kudos for their sincere efforts to make the second edition of five-day women literature festival a great success. It was a novel experience for most girl students on the campus,” stated Prof Hamida Bibi.

Anum Asif, a student of English literature at SBBWU, told this scribe that she and her classmates not only enjoyed the festival but also learnt a lot about different perspectives on women’s role in the society.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2024