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Pushto poet honoured KARACHI is proud to have in its fold around a million or even more Pushto-speaking people, lending vibrancy to the rich cultural life of the city. The Idara-i-Adbiat Pakistan has remembered some noted Pushto language writers and poets — Khushhal Khan Khatak, Rehman Baba, Sanober Khan and Qalander Mahmoud. Last Saturday, a memorial meeting was held by the Idara to pay homage to the great sufi and lyricist Ameer Hamza Khan Shinwari, also known as the father of Pushto ghazal. Tahir Afridi, a known Pushto writer, was in the chair. There were not many speakers, but they were full of information about the great poet. Amir Hamza Khan, a scion of the Shinwari tribe, was born in 1907 in Landi Kotal. He showed his creative talent from childhood, for which he had to pay heavily. Once, in his primary class, the child was “caught” red-handed for drawing a human figure on his “takhti”. He was duly punished and thrown out of school. Later he got admitted to the Islamia School, Peshawar. He was in the fifth class when he got tired of his dull and drab curriculum. By that time he had started composing poetry and had formed a forum of poets under the title “Olesi Adbi jirga”. He continued to compose poetry and write prose till one of his Pushto plays — Zamindar — was broadcast from All India Radio in 1935. His Pushto ghazals were also becoming popular. Samandar Khan Samandar, an outstanding poet of those times, gave Amir Hamza the title of “King of Pushto ghazal”. He had by that time composed ghazals in Urdu as well — almost 75 of them. But following advice that gaining eminence in Urdu poetry might be difficult, he worked hard in Pushto. In 1951, Amir Hamza wrote the dialogues and lyrics of a Pushto film, Laila Majnoon. During the same period he was awarded the Pride of Performance by the government for meritorious services to literature. He died in 1984 leaving behind a treasure of Pushto poetry and Urdu ghazals. He was born in an affluent family but preferred to live like a faqir, inclined towards sufism. Writers who presented papers on the life and work of Amir Hamza included Rashid Kundi, Qaiser Afridi and Rahman Buneri who also compered the proceedings. Tahir Afridi who was close to Hamza during the poet’s last years described him as a God-fearing person, endowed with patience and forbearance. Tahir Afridi himself deserves recognition. Born in 1939 in a tribal area, he only attended primary school but went to studying Pushto and Urdu, and now has 11 published volumes of short stories, novels and travelogues to his credit. He has won awards from the Abasin Arts Council and the academy Adbiat-i-Pakistan. His Pushto novel Deedan published in 2000 was given the Khushhal Khan literary award. Agha Noor Mohammad, the host of the evening, spoke about the future plans of the Adbiat and thanked the guests. * * * * * A LITERARY meeting under the aegis of the Aiwan-i-Adab was held at the offices of Tulu-i-Afkar on Saturday. Hussain Anjum was the host. The meeting was in two sessions, the first dealing with prose and the other with poetry. Dr Zahid Hussain presented a short story ‘Do Aunsoo’ (two teardrops). It was the story of a pair of deer and the tragedy of their separation. The environs of a forest and its animal denizens were ably illustrated. Nasim Anjum conducted the proceedings, while comments came from Ali Haider Malik, Najmul Huda Syed, Sardar Zaidi and Tashna Barelvi, among others. Fiction writer Shamshad Ahmad who chaired the proceedings explained the story’s salient feature. The second session, presided over by poet Zaki Usmani, was a lengthy one, giving all the poets present a chance to recite their lyrics. Critic Dr Ahmer Rifai was guest of the evening. Among the poets attending were Aazer Nayab, Rahman Khawar, Sadiq Madhosh and Masoom Raza. * * * * * THE Academy of Letters, Islamabad, while expanding the area of its literary awards for the year 2004, this time chose the noted Sindhi writer Sobho Gianchandani for its lifetime achievement (Kamal-i-fan) award. In a press release, the academy praised Sobho for his contribution to Sindhi literature and culture and for the intellectual guidance he has provided to the younger generation. Sobho’s life long sacrifices in the cause of landless agricultural labour and the marginalized sections of society were also mentioned. Those who welcomed the academy’s decision included both Urdu and Sindhi language writers — Prof Saher Ansari, Dr Mazharul Haq Siddiqi (vice-chancellor, Sindh University), Agha Salim, Qamar Shahbaz, Prof Ayaz Gul, Taj Baloch and Shamsherul Haidery. Karachi’s Fiction Group, an important literary body, struck a sour note, saying the Academy literary award should have gone to a literary person. It is perhaps unaware of the services Sobho Gianchandani has rendered to the enrichment of Sindhi language, literature and culture.
KARACHI is proud to have in its fold around a million or even more Pushto-speaking people, lending vibrancy to the rich cultural life of the city.