President Murmu calls for greater understanding to overcome world challenges

Bhopal: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said that the world was beset with many challenges that needed to be addressed with a greater understanding of the people of different hues.

“In a world facing many challenges we must find effective ways with great understanding among people of different cultures and beliefs,” the President said here after inaugurating ‘Unmesha’ and ‘Utkarsh’ festivals organised by the Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi, respectively.

While Unmesha is a three-day international literary festival, Utkarsh is the national festival of folk and tribal expressions.

Highlighting the importance of literature, the President said that it has the ability to reveal people’s common destiny.

“Let us use the ability of literature to reveal our common destiny in strengthening our global community,” she said, adding, “Everyone is familiar with the timeless supremacy of literature.”

The function was also addressed by Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Earlier, Patel and Chouhan welcomed the President on her arrival at the Bhopal airport.

Unmesha 2023 is being organised in Bhopal from August 3-6.

“Unmesha is India's most inclusive and Asia's largest literature festival in terms of the number of languages represented, and is on its way to becoming the world's largest literature festival," Sahitya Akademi secretary K Sreenivasarao said earlier.

The Sahitya Akademi, Union Ministry of Culture and Madhya Pradesh culture department are jointly organising this festival, to be held as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

More than 575 authors in 102 languages are expected to participate in over 75 events in this year’s Unmesha. Writers from 13 countries will be a part of the festival, the official said.

This will be the second edition of Unmesha. The first event was held in Shimla in June 2022.