Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Literary Festival 2017 concluded on March 5, 2017, with a valedictory lecture by Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi on his book “Let’s Kill Gandhi” followed by a “Mushaira”. The evening was also graced by Bollywood actress Swara Bhaskar.
The day started with a flagship writing workshop by Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT), at Kennedy Auditorium Complex. It’s the world's largest micro-fiction platform. There were then panel discussions on various topics. “We are living in post-truth times”, said Manoj K Jha, national spokesperson RJD (Rashtriya Janta Dal) and one of the panelists. He further added that it is the time when truth was being assassinated.
Later audience were given time to enjoy a poetry reading session. Poets Aditi Rao, Shivani Kohli and AMU students read their self-composed poetry. Feminism to women empowerment to nationalism and rights were the themes displayed in the poetry. Another panel on “Iqbal and Tagore” took place, panellists Zafar Anjum, a Singapore-based author and a journalist, linked by Irfanullah Farooqui, the faculty member at AMU. “Iqbal was one of the early nationalists and had views holding power” answered Zafar Anjum on a question of hyper-nationalism. Both of them presented their views in the light of poetry and its political relation of Tagore and Iqbal.
In the evening there was a talk with Swara Bhaskar on whether “Contemporary Bollywood Cinema challenging gender stereotypes”. She gave various examples to support her views and said the audience is putting pressure on cinema to produce something unbiased.
The last evening of the three-day event saw prize distribution ceremony, at Kennedy Complex. AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. General Zameeruddin Shah was also present. Tushar Gandhi distributed the prizes to the winners of online events. Later he also delivered a valedictory lecture on his book entitled “Let's Kill Gandhi”. “Nobody except RSS killed Gandhi”, Tushar explained to the audience supported by a variety of examples from his book. The AMU Literary Festival 2017 ended successfully.
Note: Report is prepared by the report writing team of AMU Literary Festival 2017
