Pakistan national day marked in House of Authors

2009-05-15 08:30

 

A meeting was held on Wednesday May 13 in the House of Authors in Tehran International Book Fair to mark the Pakistan National Day. The meeting was among others attended by Pak Ambassador to Tehran, a prominent Pak poet and an ECO official in charge of cultural affairs.

Early in the meeting, Dr. Rajabi, an ECO official, said that the ECO Cultural Institute prides itself on the fact that it has taken a pavilion for a second time in Tehran International Book Fair. Rajabi expressed pleasure over a series of programs to mark the national days of ECO Member Sates in the House of Authors.

Concerning Pakistan National Day, Rajabi said that Iran and Pakistan enjoy deep bonds, adding that the fact that Pakistan's national anthem is written in Persian shows how high the Iranian culture and Persian language is regard in the country.

The ECO cultural official said Iran-Pakistan bond was more than religious as the two nations have had mutual relations also in pre-Islamic era, adding that the relations have continued to date in different fields.

Rajabi noted that there were many Pakistani poets who were speaking in Urdu, wrote their poems in Persian.

The official touched on several major commonalities between the two countries including customs, traditions and, to some extent, language, adding that the three countries of Pakistan, Iran and Turkey are founders of ECO institute, having signed a multi-purpose, trilateral agreement in this regard.

Rajabi unveiled that the ECO institute would soon open an office in Lahore, Pakistan. A special periodical journal is also set for release, he added.

Pak Ambassador to Tehran, Mohammad Baksh-Abbasi was another speaker of the meeting who said that public presence in the fair was rare in the world and that it attests to a love for book on the part of Iranian people and how great and shrewd they are.

The Pak Ambassador noted that Iran and Pakistan have long enjoyed rich and strong bonds and that many renowned men of literature in Pakistan, including Iqbal Lahouri, have written their works in Persian.

Mohammad Baksh-Abbasi urged that Persian must survive, adding that languages are the deposits, properties and wealth of nations.

He noted however that by wealth he meant a knowledge-related construct. "Material wealth might be robbed but knowledge could not be robbed," he said, quoting Plato as writing in his works that only the one can rule who is knowledgeable.

The Ambassador went on to say that knowledge guides any ruler to the right track, and that any one who suffers lack of knowledge would go astray. "Favorable results lie in following knowledgeable rulers and leaders," he added.

"Let me give a word of advice to all my colleagues in Pakistan Embassy in Iran; make more efforts in gaining knowledge," the Pak Ambassador urged.

Mohammad-Hussein Tasbihi, a Pak poet, recited his poetical works in praise of Persian language as well as the personality of Mohammad-Ali Jenah, also a prominent Pak figure.