SAHIWAL: Students’ performances comprising various forms of Punjabi traditional folk songs -- Ravi Dhola, Mahya and Dhora -- mesmerised the youthful audience on the lawns of Oval Ground, Government Postgraduate College, here on Wednesday.

Total 12 students from Ravi belt participated in the Dhola and Mahya singing competitions which were part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Sahiwal district being jointly organised by the Sahiwal Arts Council and the GPGC.

Chief guest Commissioner Baber Hayat and GPGC Principal Prof Ikhlaq Husain, appreciated the singers for keeping alive their language and cultural heritage. A large number of female students were also among the audience.

Traditional folk dance of the area -- Ravi Jhumer -- was also performed by Sanwal Jhumer Group to welcome the guests.

Prof Amir Gorsi of GPGC’s Punjabi department in his address said one should not be ashamed of one’s own language and cultural traditions.

“We are custodians of the language in which great Sufi poets like Waris Shah, Bullah Shah, Baba Farid, Shah Hussain and Khawaja Farid wrote verses,” he said.

Principal Prof Ikhlaq Husain said: “We must not forget personalities like Majeed Amjed, Munir Niazi, Jaffer Sherazi, Haji Bashir Ahmed Bashir, AD Ijaz and MM Ashraf who contributed immensely to cultural growth of the city and its inhabitants.”

Dohra competition was won by Abdual Sattar, Kafiyaat Abbas and Ghulam Rasool, while Mahya contest by Muhammad Imran, Saqlain Farid and Hasan Raza from Imamia College.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2016