KARACHI, July 31: The 13th Aalmi Mushaira will now be held on Aug 10 at the KMC Sports Complex on Kashmir Road at 10pm.

This was announced by Azhar Abbas Hashmi at a press conference here on Wednesday.

The Mushaira, which Sakinaan-i-Shaher-i-Quaid-i-Karachi has been organizing since 1989, was earlier scheduled to be held on May 11. It was postponed after the May 8 bomb blast in the city.

Mr Hashmi said that Gulzar Dehlavi, Saghar Khiyami, Papular Meeruthi, Hina Taimuri were coming from India. From other countries the following poets are due: Sardar Soz (US), Dr Ahmad Safi (US), Noor Jehan Noori (UK), Kamal Azhar (Kuwait), Ataka (Japan), Farzana Sihab (Sharjah) and Tasneem Abidi (Abu Dhabi).

He added that Munir Niazi, Mohsin Ahsan, Iftikhar Arif, Anwer Masood, Inayat Ali Khan, Sarfaraz Shahid, Mohammad Izhar-ul-Haq, Akhter Shumar, Fakhira Batool, Muzuffar Khalish, Saima Ali and Hasan Javed were expected from cities other than Karachi.

He said that from Karachi the following poets would take part in the Mushaira: Tabish Dehlavi, Raghib Muradabadi, Jamiluddin Aali, Hanif Asadi, Nazar Amrohvi, Sarshar Siddiqui, Khalid Alig, Shabnum Roomani, Jaun Aelia, Saqi Amrohvi, Pirzada Qasim, Jazib Qureshi, Sohail Ghazipuri, Shahida Hasan, Muslim Shamim, Amir-ul-Islam Hashmi, Tariq Sabzwari, Majid Khalil, Rehana Roohi, Farooq Abidi, Zakia Ghazal, Hijab Abbasi, Rafiq Khyal, Raees Alvi, Imran Mazhar, Qamar Jamali Amrohvi and Syed Ali Amrohvi.

Mr Hashmi said that Sakinaan-i-Shaher-i-Quaid-i-Karachi had made all the necessary arrangements for the Mushaira. “In addition to a 70-foot-long stage, there will be a 60-foot-by-12-foot backdrop which would contain pictures of no fewer than 60 major buildings of the city. The organization has made arrangements for about 12,000 visitors at the Mushaira where entry will be free.”

He explained that all NOCs etc for Indian poets had already been issued by the ministry of interior. “Actually even in May when the standoff between India and Pakistan had been at its highest, the Pakistani interior ministry had issued the NOCs.”

He recalled that over 236 poets, including 80 from India, had taken part in the last 12 Mushairas. Some Indian poets had been invited several times over, he added. Similarly, he said, 37 poets from all over the world had participated in the Mushairas.