KARACHI, Oct 11: The people of Karachi flocked to the National Stadium on Sir Shah Sulaiman Road in their hundreds on Friday night to attend the Aalmi Mushaira.
The Mushaira, organized by Sakinan-i-Shaher-i-Quaid Karachi, saw poets from different cities of Pakistan and from other countries recite their poetry amid great acclaim and, at times, amid jeers and catcalls. The organizers did not explain why no poet from India attended the Mushaira.
The Mushaira, which Sakinaan-i-Shaher-i-Quaid-i- Karachi has been organizing since 1989, was earlier scheduled to be held on Oct 4. It was postponed for security reasons.
Six people were killed and seven others wounded when a bus carrying employees of the Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Organization for Friday prayers was ambushed by armed men on the Hub River Road on Oct 3.
It may be recalled that the Aalmi Mushaira was also postponed earlier in the year. Sakinan-i-Shaher-i-Quaid Karachi had announced that in view of recent rains and the havoc they had wreaked all over the country resulting in loss of life and property, the Mushaira committee had decided to postpone the event.
It was then decided that the Mushaira would be held either on Sept 27 or on Oct 14. But finally the Mushaira committee fixed Oct 4 as the date of the Mushaira.
Much to the consternation of those who reached the venue of the poetic gathering on time, the Mushaira started two hours late. The organizers of the Mushaira would not start the proceedings before the arrival of Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, who did not turn up before the midnight.
Azhar Abbas Hashmi read out a welcome address in which he announced that the Sakinan-i-Shahar-i-Quaid Karachi Trust had collected Rs500,000 which would be used on the welfare of intellectuals and men of letters.
The activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement hijacked the Mushaira when they chanted party slogans as Governor Ishratul Ibad recited the verses he had composed in exile. Mr Ibad also announced a grant of Rs500,000.
The Sindh minister for excise and taxation, Rauf Siddiqui, also recited his verses in which he criticized the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for insisting that President Pervez Musharraf take off army uniform.
Another poet was allowed to recite his verses whose only claim to fame seemed to be his ability to read out a poem in praise of the Muttahida’s self-exiled chief, Altaf Hussain, at the top of his voice.
The proceedings of the Mushaira were telecast live on two huge television screens. While the crowd generally hooted and cheered, a silence descended upon the National Stadium when senior poet Tabish Dehlavi recited his poems. His turn came early because he wanted to leave.
At least two poets — Rehana Roohi and Khalish Muzaffar — lashed out at the audience and called them rowdy. They, however, failed to realize that good couplets received a great deal of acclaim from the discerning, though a bit noisy, audience.
A large number of poets failed to make a distinction between catcalls and requests for more verses. The standard of compering was very low, as usual. All the comperes spoke unnecessarily and their jarring utterances made the poets’ voice inaudible. Pressed for time, one compere, Naqqash Kazimi, urged poets to recite one poem, but seized the opportunity to inflict his poems on the jeering audience as the governor left the venue.
It was Prof Enayat Ali Khan who pulled the crowd back to the Mushaira. His apparently light-hearted poems, containing serious and thought-provoking ideas, sent the crowd into raptures. His poem on the travails of democracy in Pakistan went down very well with the audience. Much to the embarrassment of other poets, a large number of people left the venue after Mr Khan’s performance.
The poets who recited their verses at the Mushaira included Amjad Islam Amjad, Iftikhar Arif, Hanif Akhgar, Mohsin Bhopali, Shaukat Ali Anqa, Sikander Shaikh, Amar Husaini, Sarwat Sultana Sarwat, Naseem Nazish, Nazar Amrohvi, Wasi Shah, Parveen Javed, Nazar Niazi, Raghib Muradabadi, Shahida Latif, Hairat Illahabadi, Hijab Abbasi, Muzaffar Warsi, Javed Saba, Akhtar Saeedi, Arif Shakeel, Asim Siddiqui, Masroor Javed, Raees Alvi, Gulnar Afreen, Kaif Rizwani, Amirul Islam Hashmi and Majid Ali.
KARACHI, Oct 11: The people of Karachi flocked to the National Stadium on Sir Shah Sulaiman Road in their hundreds on Friday night to attend the Aalmi Mushaira.
