The National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) celebrated its 10th anniversary at a formal function held at the NAPA premises in Karachi. The same evening, a dinner was hosted by Board of Directors' Member Syed Jawaid Iqbal at his residence to bid farewell to the outgoing Chairman Dr Ishrat Hussain and to welcome the new Chairman Tariq Kirmani.
Former president Pervez Musharraf and his wife Sehba Musharraf were also resent at the dinner. It may be recalled that it was the former president who had taken the initiative to found NAPA and to provide funds for its sustenance during the initial years.Pervez Musharraf congratulated all those who had made NAPA a success and emphasised the immense need to eliminate the cultural vacuum that existed in society.
He related how, in order to further his concept of 'enlightened moderation,' he had thought of founding a national institution for the promotion of art and culture and had persuaded the thespian Zia Mohyeddin to head the Academy. He was happy that he had extended his patronage to NAPA, because in just a decade, it had come to ably fulfil the civil society's long-standing demand for a proper centre dedicated to the promotion of art and culture in Karachi. He was pleased that NAPA had managed to add great richness to the city's cultural activities.
The dinner was held in an informal environment and was attended by members of the Board of NAPA, such as Javed Jabbar, Satish Anand and Anwar Rammal, some members of the NAPA faculty comprising Rahat Kazmi, Arshad Mahmud, Nafees Ahmed and Khalid Ahmed and many notable figures from the corporate world.
Outgoing Chairman of the Board of Directors, Ishrat Hussain, expressed his gratitude to all concerned and said he was especially happy to note that successive governments had extended their fullest co-operation to NAPA through the years and that the Academy was playing a useful role in promoting cultural activities in the city. He spoke of the significance of such institutions and their role in upholding the values of Pakistani culture as well as providing the public with a quality source of entertainment.
Tariq Kirmani, the new Chairman of NAPA, said though he was being given the gigantic task of heading the BoDs of NAPA, it was a little early in the day to expect any results from him at this juncture. He said he would do his best to take the Academy to new successes as per its future plans.
Zia Mohyeddin, who has been re-appointed to run NAPA as its President & CEO for another term of three years, thanked the founder former President Pervez Musharraf for setting up NAPA and for selecting him to run it. "To be a part of NAPA's 10th founding anniversary is a very gratifying experience," he said. "I never imagined myself being around long enough to be a part of the celebrations, and see the seed that we planted grow into a healthy plant and about to become a tree."
He said he and his colleagues had endeavoured hard to run NAPA on sound professional lines over the past ten years and it would be their effort to take the Academy to new levels of success in future as well. The host, Syed Jawaid Iqbal, who sits on the BoDs of NAPA, along with other prominent personalities, thanked former President Pervez Musharraf for being present on the historic occasion and for doing so much for it. He welcomed the guests on the occasion and expressed his appreciation of the invaluable services that the faculty and Members of the Board had rendered to NAPA over the past ten years.-PR