PESHAWAR: Poets and writers here on Tuesday expressed deep sorrow and grief over the death of renowned Urdu poet and playwright Amjad Islam Amjad and termed his demise an irreparable loss to Urdu language and literati at large.

Pohantoon Adabi Stori, a literary body of University of Peshawar, arranged an event at the main hall of Academy of Letters to pray for the departed soul of Amjad Islam Amjad and sympathise with the bereaved family. A large number of poets and writers attended the event.

Bakhtnam Khalil, Farooq Shah, Ibrahim Khan, Nabi Gul, Shafiur Rahman, Mahmoob Gul Yasir, GulmashAfridi and Tahir Nawaz were also present on the occasion.

They offered fateha and paid tributes to the literary services of Amjad Islam Amjad. They said that Amjad Islam’s literary, social and intellectual contributions spread over several decades and cast huge impact on the literary trends and traditions of Urdu in particular and other languages in general.

They said that he was a symbolism of patriotism and medley of romanticism that impacted an era.

Speakers say late writer cast huge impact on literary trends

Prof Abaseen Yousafzai, who chaired the event, said that death of Amjad Islam created a vacuum that would take long to fill. He said that his literary services were a precious asset to serve as a source of motivation for the budding writers. He said that his TV plays were a true reflection of society while his poetry was characterised by the spirit of the contemporary overtures.

The speakers said that Amjad Islam Amjad had great regard and respect for poets and writers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because he loved multiplicity and diversity. He had expressed it on several occasions during his visits to Peshawar, they added.

They said that Amjad Islam Amjad enriched Urdu literature and enlightened audience across the world with his soft images immersed in eloquence and romantic metaphors. They said that such literary giants never died rather reemerged with new interpretation of meanings for the respective age.

Young poets including Yasir Shah Umbar, Mohammad Ali Qureshi, Manzoor Ahmad and Umar Ali Khattak presented their poetic tribute to the late writer. Habib Nawaz Inqilab, Anwar Ali and Wasifullah Daudzai also spoke briefly at the event.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2023