PESHAWAR: Speakers at a seminar here on Wednesday termed the founder of Pashto Academy, Maulana Abdul Qadir, a great literary figure of far-sighted vision and matchless scholarship.

The seminar was arranged under the auspices of Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar, at Maulana Abdul Qadir Library Hall. Research Scholars, intellectuals and literati turned up at the daylong seminar held with an objective to appraise young generation of the huge contributions of Maulana Abdul Qadir for the cause of Pashto in the region.

Speakers said that all works of Maulana Abdul Qadir should be republished for research pursuits. They said that Pashto Academy met up many targets set by Maulana Abdul Qadir and his colleagues about 70 years ago.

Prof Hanif Khalil, who was chief guest on the occasion, said that Maulana Abdul Qadir founded Pashto Academy in 1955 to light up the candle of research and motivate scholars and writers. He said that he travelled to many countries to find old Pashto manuscripts and collected a rare treasure trove of knowledge on variety of disciplines.

Prof Nasrullah Jan Wazir, the director of Pashto Academy, who chaired the event, pointed out that Maulana Abdul Qadir opened up new horizons of research and scholarship for the people of the region and also pioneered innovative ways and means to dig out hidden aspects of language and philosophy.

Prof Dinakhel on the occasion stated that Maulana Abdul Qadir was multidimensional personality as he influenced a host of generations of scholars and writers, who furthered the cause of Pashto Academy.

Noted scholar Saidul Amin Ahsan said that being a visionary, Maulana Abdul Qadir envisioned an intellectual atmosphere on the Peshawar University campus where poets, writers and scholars together should preserve the rich literary and cultural diversity of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that he was an academy in his own right.

Prof Sher Zaman said that one could gauge the high seriousness, depth, academic calibre and sublimity of his thoughts from his works whether it was poetry, essay and even letter. He engaged many scholars of the time to work for the academy, he added.

Prof Danish Bettani, Dr Bushra Ikram, Prof Shahab Aziz Arman and Prof Zafarullah Bakhshali also addressed the seminar. Later, the participants laid wreath of flowers on the grave of Maulana Abdul Qadir at the campus graveyard.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2023