Khushwant Singh lit fest starts at Kasauli

Advertisement

Solan, October 15

The 11th edition of the three-day Khushwant Singh Literary festival (KSLF) began at the Kasauli Club yesterday, with a call for improving the Indo-Pak relations so that the cultural ties between the two countries kept thriving.

KSLF Director Rahul Singh, in his welcome address, said that one of the key concerns of Khushwant Singh was that India and Pakistan retained warmth in their people-to-people relations. That’s why a large number of Pakistani personalities could take part in the first few editions of the KSLF and had vibrant discussions on matters that concerned both the nations.

“The sessions would not only draw packed houses but would also have scintillating debates and discussions,” said Rahul, making an appeal to both the governments to relax visa rules for cultural and literary ambassadors. There should be more flights and more personal contact between the people of the two countries, he said.

The tone of the festival was set by the celebrated author, Amitav Ghosh, who took up the theme of the festival, ‘The Climate of Change: Still Sprightly@75’ and expressed his grave concern at the constant ravaging of the nature that humanity has been doing in the recent past. He said that the entire civilisation would be ruined if the world did not wake up to the devastation and took reformative steps.

In another session, the much acclaimed writer, Rajmohan Gandhi, said that India needed another kind of greatness not just what is reflected through the Hindu majoritarianism. In conversation with MP Mahua Moitra, he regretted how the Indian society suffered discrimination for centuries.

Sharing his thoughts on the topic ‘Reflections on a 75-year Legacy’, Rajmohan said that the legacy of the country since Independence was onerous and challenging and it is time that we had more equitable and homogenous society.