KARACHI, Dec 27: The pivotal role played by Sajjad Zaheer and the great contribution of his Progressive Literary Movement in the Pakistan Movement was eulogised by participants of a conference held here on Wednesday as part of the PLM’s centenary celebrations.

The two-day conference was held under the aegis of the AnjumanTaraqqi Pasand Musannafeen-i-Pakistan , Karachi chapter. Dr Najeeb Jamal, Ashfaq Salim Mirza and Dr Zulfiqar Ali Sial chaired the conference while Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmad conducted the proceedings. Prominent writers, poets and other literary figures, as well as scholars, attended the conference.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Anwar Ahmad of the BHZ University, Multan, said that the Progressive Literary Movement had created consciousness among people of the subcontinent and gave them the concept of a beautiful future. “It is now up to us how to turn this concept into a reality,” he said.

Prof Sehar Ansari, highlighting the significance of the movement, pointed out that revolutions are not always brought about politicians alone, but literary figures, too.

Zafarullah Poshni recalled the days when he had been accompanying Sajjad Zaheer and Faiz Ahmad Faiz in jail for four years in the infamous Rawalpindi conspiracy case, and said it was there where he had the opportunity of enjoying the real taste for Urdu literature.

Aziz Qureshi from Bhopal, India, said if one wanted to know why a social revolution was not going to come, one should go through the stages of the Progressive Literary Movement. Anwar Ahsan Siddiqui stressed the need for inducting the new blood in the movement and imparted training to them. Dr Shah Muhammad Marri, Wahid Bashir, Prof Jamal Naqvi, Prof Hasan Abid, Farhad Zaidi, Ahmad Altaf and Hemayat Ali Shair also paid tributes to Sajjad Zaheer.