 The Citizens Archives of Pakistan (CAPS) is a commendable initiative aimed at preserving the history of Pakistan. It tries to organize the Shanaakht Festival every year to bring into focus the aspirations and activities of the Society based on the memorable and positive aspects of how Pakistan came into being, who were the people who made this nation and what are the lessons that we can learn from their struggle.
The five-day Shanaakht Festival was held recently in Karachi. It featured photo and art exhibitions, musical performances, documentaries, interactive plays, street theatre, storytelling, exhibition of vintage cars and other interesting activities - all based on the theme of Pakistan's national identity. It brought to life various aspects of Pakistan's history and living culture that the younger generation must be made aware of.
One exhibit displayed pictures of women who played important roles in the formative years of Pakistan. The portraits included, among others, those of Begum Raa'na Liaquat Ali, Princess Abida Sultan and Begum Shaista Ikramullah A visual presentation on Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was also a part of the Festival.
"I feel so proud of visiting all the stalls, especially seeing the portraits of our prominent women. I never knew that we had such a vast and versatile history," a student said. "It should be mandatory for all students to visit the Shanaakht Festival and then write about it; at least we would have something nice and positive to visit every year".
 Having become a regular cultural event, Shanaakht is also contributing to the needs of the education-hungry masses of Pakistan. The information offered is quite interactive and entertaining and one can easily ‘live' the history of Pakistan instead of merely reading about it.
A classy part of the Festival was the collection of vintage cars, showing cars dating back to the pre-independence era. A visitor at the festival said, "I never knew that people in our history had such class because I did not know about their sense of style and the way they used to move about. For me, seeing is believing."
Story-telling was also a captivating part of the Festival, where people who had witnessed the Partition or had experienced the pre-Partition era, narrated interesting, real-life stories. It was like an oral account from an eyewitness and was presented in a very interesting manner. Some stories were narrated by former air force officers who gave their accounts of the air force back then, some were from civil servants and some were so emotional that no one cared who was narrating them.
Telling stories from history from a first person point of view was a great idea but listening to the narrative grabs more attention and was more entertaining grabbed more attention and was more entertaining. Other important aspects of our recent history were also brought into the limelight, such as the Pakistani film industry. The exhibit comprised a collection of colourful posters of blockbuster films of the 60s. All the classics were revisited and tributes paid to some patent characters of the industry, such as Maula Jutt.
An entertaining and thought-provoking event of the Shanaakht Festival was a play by Tehreek-e-Niswan. Titled ‘Rung Badal lo Bhai', performed by a seasoned group of artists. It centered on Pakistani history and how people and their thought processes have changed over time. The play was performed by a group of ten actors who would change their get-up with every era, from feudal lords to army officers. They presented a very interesting political satire which was enjoyed by everyone. The play made some bold comments on the country's policy-makers and the role of foreign powers in the country's decision-making process.
The event that got the biggest response was Rag and Roll, a concert featuring performances by all the popular bands - Fuzon, Laal, Noori, Taal Karisma, ADP (Aunty Disco Project) and others. The auditorium was packed with youngsters from all parts of Karachi. The best performance came from Laal, a group that sings the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Habib Jalib and Aitezaz Ahsan.
These musicians are like mascots of our country and when you see them performing at places like the Shanaakht Festival, you can say that musicians are doing what they should, creating an identity that the masses recognise.
Other interesting facets of the Festival included Forgotten Paradise, a photography exhibition on Kashmir; Hashim Raza: Life of an extraordinary Pakistani; Chai Cricket or Hum an exhibition on the relationship between Pakistanis, tea and cricket and Khayal Khana, an arts section for children.
The Shanaakht Festival made a positive impact and revived many heroes, recognised many forgotten milestones and highlighted a number of issues that existed earlier but were not in national focus. 
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