LAHORE: After a journey of 14 years, Faiz Ghar has been closed down and it will now be available only online.

This news may be saddening for the ardent lovers of Urdu literature, poetry and Faiz Ahmad Faiz but a window to look into Faiz Ghar archives will still be open in the form of the online availability of Faiz’ treasures in the near future, claim the organisers.

The Faiz Ghar website, ‘Faiz Ghar Beyond Borders,’ is in process and all the data and archives of Faiz Ghar are being uploaded on it.

“It’s a lengthy process but we are trying to launch the website before the end of the year,” says Faiz Foundation Trust Secretary Adeel Hashmi while talking to Dawn.

Faiz Ghar was established in 2009. It was first set up in F Block of Model Town but it was later moved to J Block of the locality. To the question as to why Faiz Ghar has been closed down physically and will now be introduced online, Mr Hashmi refers to multiple factors behind the closure of Faiz Ghar with skyrocketing inflation being the top of the list of the factors. He adds that initially the inflation did not bother much but as the time passed, it became unmanageable both for Faiz Ghar and the folks interested in extracurricular activities such as summer schools, art classes etc.

According to him, high electricity bills, rent of the place where Faiz Ghar was located and other such expenses made things quite difficult for the foundation to keep the project afloat.

“You see whenever such skyrocketing inflation hits, the first thing that happens is that people stop spending on extracurricular activities such as summer schools or art classes. People don’t consider it important which is natural. They can’t give any importance (to art and extracurricular activities) when other expenses are eating into their earnings,” Hashmi argues.

“Commuters now also find it difficult to reach the places as petrol rate is also so high. Amidst these difficult times, we have decided to take Faiz Ghar online.”

He says the Faiz Ghar is one of many projects being run by the Faiz Foundation Trust and the foundation is carrying out its other projects side by side.

“The Capital Development Authority Islamabad has been insisting on the Faiz Foundation to hold the Faiz Festival in Islamabad and the CDA is ready to support the festival. So we are looking forward to organising an edition of the Faiz Festival in Islamabad in the near future.

Similarly, we are also planning to hold other editions of the Faiz Festival in Sialkot and Multan besides Lahore, which is the main location of the festival.”

Hashmi has disclosed that December this year or in January next year, a grand Faiz Festival will be held in Dubai in collaboration with Rekhta which is an India-based organisation dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Urdu literature.

Published in Dawn, Aug 1st, 2023