This year, Military Literature Festival to be online affair

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

The fourth edition of the Military Literature Festival (MLF) will be held virtually this year because of the restrictions in place due to Covid-19. The dates fixed for the event are December 18, 19 and 20.

Most of the events, including the inaugural session and panel discussions, will be conducted online. Some of the public events held in the preceding years as a precursor to the MLF are being done away this time. A war memorial function is planned for December 7.

A wide array of contemporary, historic, literary and technical issues related to national security and the armed forces will feature in the MLF, with experts in the domain as well as serving and retired defence officers, propounding their views.

With the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Indo-Pak War falling next year, it is also expected to be a hot topic. Higher defence management, military industry unconventional and sub-conventional warfare, foreign relations, military diplomacy and the strategic fallout of events like impact the ongoing pandemic are other topics of interest.

Live streaming as well as recordings of events like panel discussions, weapon display, book launches, war memorial service, films, virtual exhibitions and other interactive sessions would be done over social media and other cyber platforms, Brig JS Arora (retd) said. A professional agency is being engaged for conduct of the three-day event.

The literature festival is an annual affair conducted by the Punjab Government and the Western Command to honour and commemorate the legendary bravery and sacrifices of the Indian soldiers and also to bring on to a common platform experts to deliberate on contemporary military, security and geopolitical issues.