PESHAWAR: Noted trilingual poet and writer Syed Mir Ahmad Shah aka Farigh Bukhari was remembered by the members of Halqa-i-Arbab-i-Zauq Peshawar on Tuesday to mark his 24th death anniversary.

He was born and bred in Peshawar city and grew and lived with progressive ideas and literati.

He suffered imprisonments during military rule but stood like a rock and never budged even an inch from his stated position.

Farigh Bukhari was termed a true spirit of the age owing to his vast scholarship, vision and creative talent. Together with Reza Hamadani, he contributed immensely to Pashto language and literature.

Halqa-i-Arbab-i-Zauq holds function to mark his 24th death anniversary

He authored around 18 books. His books Adabiyat-i-Sarhad, Pashto Kay Lok Geet and Pathano Kay Romaan received great public appreciation.

His research work on the thoughts of Khushal Khan Khattak and Rahman Baba remained popular till today among literary circles due to his unique style of expression.

Shakil Nayyab, noted Urdu writer, in his remarks pointed out that the entire life of Farigh Bukhari revolved round revolution and raising voice against oppression and exploitation in the society.

He served as vice president of Anjuman Taraqi-i-Urdu Peshawar chapter and was also affiliated with Pakistan Writers Guild and several other literary organisations.

Prof Syed Zubair Shah, another writer, said that Farigh Bukhari had great mastery over Hindko, Urdu and Pashto and his tremendous contribution to Pashto research would always motivate young scholars.

He said that Farigh Bukhari also penned down the biography of Bacha Khan and his poetry collections titled ‘Zair-o-Bam’, ‘Sheehy Kay Pairahan’, ‘Khushbu Ka Safar’ and ‘Piyasay Hath’ enriched Urdu.

“Farigh Bukhari was a multi-faceted personality as he was a fictionist, poet, research scholar and much more. He also established himself as pen-portrait because he crafted sketches of the progressive writers in his celebrated book Album,” said Prof Shah.

Prof Nasir Ali Syed said that Farigh Bukhari was gem of a man, who inspired a generation of young poets, writers and scholars.

“For literati the like of Mr Bukhari, writing was not a pastime but a responsibility towards public and every word they wrote or composed carried a meaning and significance of its own because it used to be sacred trust that they understood to be returned to the people around them,” said Prof Nasir.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2021