PESHAWAR: Literati and research scholars remembered Prof Jahanzeb Niaz as an inspiring teacher, linguist and visionary writer during a function at the Pakhtun Cultural Museum, Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar, here on Saturday.

The event was arranged under the auspices of the Prof Jahanzeb Niaz Organising Committee to mark the fifth death anniversary of the Pashto writer.

Five Prof Jahanzeb Niaz Awards were given away on the best performance in the fields of singing, musical composition, poetry, prose and journalism. The recipients included Shakirzeb, Zaheer Zaman, Fahad Ihsas, Rokhan Yousafzai and Amjad Ali Khadim. Hamish Khalil received the life achievement award.

The committee also gave away a cash award of Rs10,000 to 10 poor yet talented students of the Charsadda Government Girls High School, Rajar.

Poets, writers, and fans of Prof Niaz attended the event and shared their views on the life and services of the former chairman of the Pashto department, University of Peshawar.

Prof Niaz’s son and chief secretary Dr Kazim Niaz, Prof Salma Shaheen, Prof Hanif Khalil, and Prof Ismail Gohar were noted among participants.

The speakers said Prof Niaz was born in 1927 in Charasadda district’s Rajar tehsil, retired as a senior professor of the the UoP Pashto department, and died in Sept 2015 at the age of 88.

They said Prof Niaz had authored more than a dozen books in Pashto, including six of poetry and prose, and the book titled Soghat (gift) was a treasure trove as it carried letters of Abdul Wali Khan.

The speakers said Prof Niaz was first arrested for taking part in the civil disobedience movement during the British Raj and he was in ninth grade at that time and there followed many imprisonments due to his radical views.

Senior writer Hamish Khalil said Prof Niaz was a motivating teacher, a farsighted poet, intellectual, and research scholar, who produced hundreds of talented students.

He said Prof Niaz strongly advocated the girls education and wanted a peaceful, progressive and pluralistic Pakhtun society.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2020