PESHAWAR: As long as the rich cultural and literary values were intact, Peshawarites would never be defeated by extremism and terrorism, said poets at trilingual poetry session here on Thursday.

They said that vibrant poetry and music of Pakhtun soil not only kept people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alive but also courageous to face challenges being faced by them.

The trilingual mushaira was organised by a private educational institution here in University Town. About 30 Hindko, Urdu and Pashto poets participated in the event.

Noted song writer Saeed Gilani presided over the function. He said that Peshawar was slowly and gradually reviving its old traditions. He added that Peshawarites had suffered great cultural loss over the years.

“I have never seen a people so resilient and courageous to confront so many challenges of the day. The vibrant poetry and music of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will keep people over here not alive but also brave to face difficulties coming in their way. As long as the rich cultural and literary values are intact, Peshawarites will never be defeated by extremism,” Mr Gilani said.

Senior Urdu and Hindko poet Prof Nazeer Tabassum said that arranging a trilingual poetry session celebrating the spring showed that there was mutual harmony among dwellers of Peshawar.

“This city has produced talented people in every field including art, music, literature and education. There is no dearth of talent in our militancy plagued city. Only a platform is needed to be provided by institutions to youngsters.

I appreciate efforts of the young poets, who filled us all with praise and applause for reciting their beautiful poetry,” he said.

Hindko playwright, critic and poet Prof Nasir Ali Syed said that such events helped them to promote mutual understanding and social interaction with different ethnic groups.

The city of Peshawar had been abode to people of diverse cultures, he said. “Gatherings like this bring us together which need to be frequently arranged,” he said.

Urdu poet Aziz Ejaz said that cultural unity was a shared legacy of the Peshawarites and they should carry on fighting back intolerance and purging society from violence. He said that literati could play a vital role in guiding people and forming their positive outlook on life.

The brief talk was followed by a lively humorous and satirical trilingual mushaira, which kept the entertainment-starved Peshawarites glued to their seats for three hours. Noted poets Prof Hasaam Hur, Farooq Ahmed Jan Babar Azad, Ismail Awan, Mushtaq Shabab, Sabir Hussain Imdad, Sajjad Babar, Ahmad Nadeem Awan, Sajid Sarhadi, Muzamil Mateen, Sabir Shah, Hina Rauf, Malik Arshad Hussain, Rani Bano, Itbar Gul, Prof Sabeeh Ahmad, Yousaf Aziz Zahid, Nishat Sarhadi, Fazl Azeem, Aftab Khan, Shahab Banusai, Abaseen Yousafzai and Zafar Khan participated in the event.

Zafar Khan Zafar, however, stole the show by reading out his humorous haikus. A few senior poets also recited their serious poetry but surprisingly enough, the responsive and tasteful audience enjoyed both humorous and the serious numbers of the poets.