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| December 3, 2003 | Wednesday | Shawwal 8, 1424 |
Eid Milan held in honour of Faraz
ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: Eminent poet Ahmed Faraz has said the progressive writers’ movement had trained writers who subscribed to its concepts to immerse themselves in the sufferings of the masses and relieve their pain.
He was speaking as chief guest at an Eid milan party arranged by a literary organization, Zavia, on Monday.
He said that the feeling of grief was always present in contemporary writings and the reader must discover that meaning embedded somewhere in the writer’s works, and it was not necessary for the writer to produce his work on the spur of the moment. The composition must be well thought out.
One line of his verse, Chhaap sune bhi to lag jate hain deevar ke sath, was an equivocation of the feeling of helplessness at unfortunate happenings, which was always present in sensitive and thinking minds.
Faraz explained that Ghazals (or Nazms) did not only convey love but in implicit in them were social comments, which were far more piercing than what was discernible in short stories or political commentaries.
He could see the continuation of the same stream of thought in the poetry read at the Eid reunion. “The standard of poetry read at this gathering was superior than the one at the international mushaira I attended this week in Karachi,” he remarked.
Faraz was called upon to make the observation after prominent Urdu critic and chairman of the National Language Authority Prof Fateh Mohammad Malick said a large number of present-day writers were writing about the sufferings of Muslims in Iraq, Kashmir and Palestine.
Prof Malick drew attention of the gathering to a picture of an Iraqi woman and child under interrogation in their home by US soldiers, and observed that in this age Muslims were being subjected to inhuman indignities. Are Muslims not human beings? Prof Malick asked.
Later, writers at the meeting were seen discussing whether topical writings could survive the rigours of time, and observed that the comments made by Prof Malick were not relevant to the occasion.
Mushairas or Urdu poetry recitals have a longstanding traditions in Pakistan and are unlike those seen anywhere in the world. Soon, the Eid milan gathering assumed the shape of an impromptu mushaira as so many well-known poets, writers from Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Wah and Gujranwala were present.
The participants also welcomed an expatriate Urdu litterateur Ishfaq Hussain, who has been prolific in interpreting Faiz’s poetry to Pakistanis living in Canada.—A Reporter
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