PESHAWAR: Speakers at a literary reference paid rich tributes to Shamsul Qamar Andesh for being a poet of substance and rich imagery.
Tatara Pakhto Adabi Tolana (TPAT), a literary organisation comprising young poets and writers at Peshawar University campus, held the literary reference at Pashto department, University of Peshawar, here on Thursday to honour the services of Shamsul Qamar Andesh, who died last Sunday.
The participants said that Andesh Baba propagated his revolutionary ideas in ghazal instead of nazm. He was a poet of rich images and substance, they added. They said that the late Pashto poet advocated progressivism, non-violence, substantive social change and a strong voice for poor masses.
“He was voice of the downtrodden. He stood for a Pakhtun society free of violence and repression of womenfolk,” the speakers said.
Dr Akhtar Iqbal Yousafzai, president of TPAT, said that the objective of his organisation was to honour poets and writers, who rendered meritorious services for Pashto language and literature. He said that young literati should come forward to create awareness about importance of peace literature among youngsters.
Reference held at UoP to honour services of late poet
Noted nationalist poet Rahmat Shah Sail, who presided over the event, said that Andesh Baba had contributed immensely to Pashto literature. He said that he would conduct a seminar on the life and literary-cum-political services of Andesh in near future.
Mr Sail said that being a nationalist to the core, Andesh Baba believed in the unity of Pakhtuns to promote values of social justice, peace and humanism in the society. He said that Andesh Baba was a staunch follower of Bacha Khan’s philosophy of non-violence and wanted his people to stick to their own social values drenched in peace, harmony and forward-looking tenets.
“Andesh Baba romanticised the idea of Pakhtun nationalism in the imagery of his ghazal poetry and this was his uniqueness,” Mr Sail said.
Dr Yasin Iqbal Yousafzai, a Pashto poet and chairman of department of physics, University of Peshawar said that Shamsul Qamar Andesh was influenced by Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek and remained committed throughout his life to the non-violence ideology of Bacha Khan.
He said that the late poet was a true voice of his own thoughts and didn’t believe in borrowed ideas. “He would never attend any function unless an invitation addressed to him was written in Pashto. He was not only committed to his mother tongue but also to his own people,” Mr Iqbal said.
Prof Abaseen Yousafzai in his remarks said that Andesh Baba was one of the nationalist Pashto poets, who changed the diction of traditional Pashto ghazal poetry. He said that other progressive poets included Qalandar Momand, Qamar Rahi, Dr Israr, Khyber Afridi, Saifur Rahman Salim and Ikramullah Gran Bacha.
He said that Andesh Baba had a mastery over imagery that set the tone for other poets to camouflage their resistance in a non-violently manner.
“His poetry is not billed as a simple didacticism but a treasure trove of his new vision with a modern world view,” Mr Abaseen said.
Sadiq Zarrak, a young research scholar, in his speech said that Pashto poets and writers affiliated with Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek had a vision to bring about a substantive change in the Pakhtun society.
They, he said, were not just wordsmiths but bards of real change in thoughts and actions of their people. “Andesh Baba belonged to the galaxy of literati, who had envisioned a progressive society with space for other communities to embrace change in the status-quo,” he said.
Dr Abdul Wahid, Dr Sher Zaman Seemab, Dr Javed Khalil, Dr Shakil Ahmad, Syed Zafarullah Bakhshali, Faisal Faran, Naqib Ahmad Jan, Tariq Pakhtunyar, Javed Juandoon, Sher Ahmad Khalil, Liaquat Seemab and Attaullah Atta also spoke on the occasion.
Shaukat Swati, a young scholar at Pashto department, recited some popular poems of Andesh Baba and got a round of applause from the participants.
Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2015
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