FOSWAL Literature Festival in Delhi Celebrates Regional Writing to Promote Peace and Cultural Relations Among SAARC Countries

The occasion began with honoring former Bangladesh President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for his commitment to literature, and then Ajeet Cour delivered an emotional speech to the crowd.

on Apr 04, 2023

FOSWAL Literature Festival in Delhi Celebrates Regional Writing to Promote Peace and Cultural Relations Among SAARC Countries

The written word can cross boundaries and bring people together in ways few other things can. The FOSWAL Literary Festival in Delhi, which has been fostering regional writing for many years, is perhaps one of the greatest instances of this. FOSWAL (the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature) has sought to promote and deepen cultural relations between SAARC countries via literary and cultural encounters.

The goal has always been to promote peace and tranquillity in the region by fostering interpersonal speech and dialogue. The festival's driving force has been and continues to be renowned writer Ajeet Cour, assisted by her daughter, artist Arpana Caur, and an outstanding crew. After several institutional missteps, the latter personally financed this event edition.

The festival was held this year from March 26 to 28 at the Academy of Fine Arts and Letters in Delhi's Siri Fort Institutional District. Nasser Munjee, Chairman of the Aga Khan Foundation, was the event's chief guest.

Additional honorees were Bangladesh's Ramendu Majumdar, Bhutan's Dr. Kunzang Choden, Nepal's Bhisma Upreti, and Sri Lanka's Kanchana Priyakantha. India's Ambassadors Suresh K. Goel, Deepak Vohra, and Dr. G.N. Devy were also present. Bangladesh had 16 authors, Bhutan had three, Sri Lanka had nine, and Nepal had fourteen. More than a hundred people came from India, including Kerala, Bangalore, Jaipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, etc.

The occasion began with honoring former Bangladesh President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for his commitment to literature, and then Ajeet Cour delivered an emotional speech to the crowd.

Other awardees were Ramendu Majumdar of Bangladesh, Dr. Kunzang Choden of Bhutan, Bhisma Upreti of Nepal, and Kanchana Priyakantha of Sri Lanka. Suresh K. Goel, Deepak Vohra, and Dr. G.N. Devy, India's ambassadors, were also present. Bangladesh has sixteen writers, Bhutan three, Sri Lanka nine, and Nepal fourteen. Over a hundred individuals traveled across India, including Kerala, Bangalore, Jaipur, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.

Former Bangladesh President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was honored for his devotion to writing, and Ajeet Cour offered a passionate speech to the audience.

"Though we met online, there was no sense of closeness or the warmth of your embraces." She told the tale of the Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature in her inauguration speech, emphasizing the marvels of Track II's diplomacy that cultural organizations like this one enable. "With our good friend Hamid Mir of Geo TV in Pakistan, we assisted in discovering the village and family of Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist apprehended alive after the November 26 assault in Bombay."

We asked him to find Ajmal Kasab's village and relatives. Once he succeeded and the father admitted that Ajmal Kasab was his son, the Pakistani government, which had previously denied any participation in the 26/11 assault, was silent. "They accepted Pakistan's complicity in the treason in Bombay in silence," she claimed. Other prizes were also given out on occasion. Dr. Kunzang Choden of Bhutan was awarded one for writing the first novel written in both Bhutanese and English.

Others went to eminent writers, poets, and scholars: Dr. Rinzin Rinzin of Bhutan, who has also served as a Member of Parliament; Prof. Hampa Nagarajaiah of India, a scholar from Karnataka; critic, translator, editor, and poet Prof. Alok Bhalla of India; poet, writer, and translator Bhisma Upreti of Nepal; writer and publisher Kanchana Priyakantha of Sri Lanka, who is the chief coordinator of FOSWAL in Sri Lanka.

"It was a significant gathering of intellectual minds and authors from all around the world." Everyone performed admirably. We had participants from Bangladesh, such as Mofidul Hoque, who conceived and built the War Liberation Museum in Dhaka, and writers such as Suman Pokhral, who have reached across borders with their creativity: Pyinngeinda and Inzananyani from Myanmar, Phramaha Niran Chueachit from Thailand, and Le Quang Nhan from Vietnam.

Other distinguished attendees were Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, Rajya Sabha Member Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, and a well-known environmentalist from Punjab. "They all provided amazing, intellectual perspectives to the festival," adds Arpana Caur.