The proceedings of the first day will start with a plenary talk by Dr Christophe Jaffrelot from Paris who will speak on 'Forms of Authoritarianism'. On day one the other panels will include a talk on Self-determination in Kashmir by Professor Dibyesh Anand from the UK and a talk on 'Lahore, 1929: the Centre of the Freedom Movement,' by Dr Kama Maclean from Australia and Dr Chris Moffat from the UK. Local topics will be covered by a session on changes in the Punjab, from Kartarpur to South Punjab, local government issues led by MPA Jugnu Mohsin, and a panel on cinema and popular culture led by Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed from Sweden.
Foreign affairs will strongly feature with talks on US-Pakistan relations with former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar and Ejaz Haider, and a panel on Pakistan and India relations with former Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, Dr Happymon Jacob from India and journalist Mehr Tarar. Sir Tim Hitchens, a recently retired UK Diplomat, will further weigh in on Brexit and the future of the UK in the world.
The second day of the ThinkFest will start with a riveting discussion on the Manto film controversy by acclaimed scholar Ayesha Jalal in conversation with Raza Rumi. Professor Cemil Aydin will launch his book, 'The idea of the Muslim World' in conversation with Dr Tahir Kamran from GCU. Also launching her book on the Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh will be Dr Nadhra Khan from LUMS with renowned Punjab scholar Jean-Marie Lafont from France.