PESHAWAR: The bards gathered at a trilingual poetry session here on Wednesday entertained the participants with their inspiring poetic expressions amid winter downpour in and around the city.

The event was arranged under the auspices of Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) at Government College Peshawar. Poets of Urdu, Pashto and Hindko hailing from different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participated in the event.

Literati focused on national integration, cultural and linguistic diversity towards building a cohesive society.

Noted writer Noorul Amin Yousafzai, who chaired the function, said that main responsibility of poets and writers was to promote unity and pluralistic values in the society.

He said that Pashto poets had always advocated positive image of the land and people. He added that whether classic or modern, Pashto bards promoted and glorified positive trends including goodwill and justice in their writings.

Literati focus on national integration

Kalsoomzeb, the president of Khwendy Adabi Lakhkar, in her brief remarks said that genuine poets believed in the purposefulness of creative art including poetry.

“Woman poets and writers are always at the front line when it comes to nation building. Most woman bards made a significant contribution to the freedom movement of the country despite strict conservatives and even today they are ready to play their active role,” she said.

Senior Hindko poet Nishat Sarhadi said that such multilingual gatherings helped to remove rifts among people and bring them closer beyond race, tribe and lingo prejudices.

Urdu poet Prof Tajuddin Tajwar on the occasion praised the warm expressions of the poets in the chilly weather and asked them to make their sincere contribution through their measured words as literati had been gifted with unique talent.

Khan Badshah Nusrat, the resident director of PAL, Mohammad Ali Khattak and Ahmad Nadeem Awan also spoke briefly before the poetry recitation. Noted poets including Sher Wali Orakzai, Qais Afridi, Prof Jahanzeb Shaoor, Prof Khalid Suhail Malik and Shahid Ali Shahid presented their poetic pieces.

Meanwhile, Khwendy Adabi Lakhkar has invited students to submit their literary, miscellaneous, artistic and research works for participating in an award winning competition in four different categories.

The awards would be conferred on young poets, writers, artists and researcher scholars after names of Zaitoon Bano, Alaf Jana Khattaka, Syeda Bushra Begum, and Salma Shaheen. The last date for submission of the literary works is February 10, 2022.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2022