United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) promoting Pak-US relations through education

ISLAMABAD (INP): Executive Director of United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) Rita Akhtar has said that the mission of the organization is to promote mutual understanding between the people of Pakistan and the people of the United States through educational and cultural exchange. 
She stated this while speaking on the occasion of launching ceremony of “The Scatter Here is Too Great”, a novel, written in the context of Karachi, by-Fulbright alumnus Bilal Tanweer. 
“I’ve conducted many Fulbright interviews over the years and not all are memorable. But I remember Bilal and even the grade I gave him-A+ because he had the nerve-or should I say the spine-to apply in creative writing”, she added.

Talking about his novel Bilal Tanweer said, “The Scatter Here is Too Great shows a love-hate relationship of the characters with Karachi. They accept Karachi with all its battle scars.” For Tanweer, this city is still home, even though he has been living in the bubble of academic campuses for many years. “I am from Karachi.
This book is an outcome of my engagement with the city. It speaks to me, resonates with me. The characters, their languages — all are from Karachi.” In his words, Karachi is a hard city which has violence and fear but there is a flip side to it. “Because of the large number of migrants, it affords a certain freedom, a certain anonymity. Karachi is a city of contrasts.”
Bilal Tanweer is also translating Urdu novels by fiction writer Ibn-e-Safi, which are characterized by a blend of mystery, adventure, suspense, violence, romance and comedy, achieving massive popularity across a broad readership in South Asia.
The participants agreed that the book comes at a time when anything with the tag of Pakistan and terrorism quickly catapults to global attention, yet the book is clearly honest and is not aimed at a particular readership.

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