GUJRAT: University students from across the country won the hearts of the audience with their skills in poetry in the 2nd All-Pakistan Ghazal, Nazm, Ashrah and Bait Bazi contests organised at the University of Gujrat (UoG) on Tuesday.

However, the overall atmosphere remained sombre in the wake of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park blast in Lahore.

The hallmark of the contests was the inclusion of Ashrah, a rather new form of Urdu poetry, consisting of 10 lines with witty, sharp content. It was said to be the first-ever Ashrah contest. Young Urdu poet Idris Babur claims to have introduced the form.

“Literature is like a ray of hope in our lives. Our society is beset with the menaces of terrorism and extremism. There is no other time like the present to actively promote and revive healthy, literary traditions of our cultural past,” said dean Faculty of Engineering and Technology and chief patron of UoG’s Qalamkar Literary Society Dr Salman Tahir who was the chief guest at the ceremony.

“Literature can help us accept and learn the value of cultural diversity, tolerance and empathy among our society,” UoG consultant Tahir Mahmood Chaudhry said.

Teams from the Govt College Women University Sialkot, Punjab University Lahore and Gujranwala campuses, Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore, Wah Cantt University, Murray College Sialkot, Govt College University Lahore, PUCIT Lahore, UVAS Lahore, COMSAT Islamabad, UET Lahore, Superior College Gujrat, and King Edward Medical College University participated in the competition. Eng. Naeemullah, Eng. Rana Amir Liaquat, and Eng. Humayun Khan were among the judges panel.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2016