Chennai: Speaking at the ‘Lit for Life’ literary festival organized by ‘The Hindu’ English newspaper, former captain of the Pakistan cricket team, Wasim Akram, insisted that cricket matches between India and Pakistan should be resumed.
Writers, journalists, screen artists, thinkers, social activists, sportsmen and other personalities from various fields will address the ‘Lit for Life’ event held annually in January or February on behalf of ‘The Hindu’ English newspaper.
This year’s event was held at Chennai Music Academy’s DDK Arena and Kasthuri Nivasan Hall on 24th and 25th.
The first day event started with a speech by Nirmala Laxman, director of ‘The Hindu’ group and ‘Lit for Life’. Vidya Singh, Kaur Gopal Das, Captain GR Gopinath, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Sumant C. Raman, Sushila Rabindranath spoke. Supreme Court Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul delivered the opening speech on the 2nd day of the event on 25th.
Wasim Akram, the captain of the Pakistan cricket team, participated in the program through video.
Hosted by senior journalist ‘The Hindu’ N. Ram. Speaking then, Wasim Akram recalled the victory of the Indian team in the 1999 Test cricket match in Chennai. He also mentioned how Saqlain told Mushtaq to bowl the spinner in the ‘Doosra’ style to ‘out’ Sachin Tendulkar. Also, “Politics should stay away from sports. Cricket matches between India and Pakistan should be resumed. He said that the communication between the two countries should also increase.
The discussion on ‘Freedom of Speech in the Internet Age’ was hosted by N. Ravi, Chairman of Kasthuri and Sons. At the event, Madras High Court lawyer Suhrith Parthasarathy spoke about the need to ban laws that violate individual rights. Tanya Rajendran, Editor-in-Chief of ‘The News Minute’ spoke about the challenges faced by the media industry in protecting freedom of expression. In Delhi, Abar Gupta, a lawyer who runs an internet freedom charity, spoke about legal actions against freedom of expression. He also pointed out that political parties provide funds to spread fake news.
Mini Krishnan, Co-ordinator of Tamilnadu Textbook and Educational Works Corporation, retired High Court Judge Prabha devan and journalist D.I. Aravindan participated in the debate on translation. Coordinated by journalist Kavita Muralitharan
The two-day event was attended by actress Deepti Naval, dancer Anita Ratnam, veteran journalist B. Sai Nath, Carnatic musician and social activist DM Krishna and others.
