PESHAWAR, Feb 11: Literary personalities drawn from various disciplines along with singer Khial Mohammad paid rich tributes to the poet, writer, teacher and journalist, Qalandar Momand, who passed away last Tuesday.
An “Evening with Qalandar Momand” was arranged by the Cultural Society of the Peshawar Press Club at the weekend to honour Momand who, by dint of his multi-dimensional personality, ruled over the hearts of thousands.
Qalandar’s close companion, and writer, Saleem Raz, recalled that Momand went through numerous ordeals while pursuing his ideals but remained steadfast even when he was physically tortured on account of espousing leftist ideas.
“I have seen traits of Stalin and Socrates in Qalandar, because he was as disciplined as the former, and as great a thinker as the latter, who knew how to translate words into reality. Honest to the core, he ended up in jails because he used to lose his cool at witnessing what he called political oppression,” he said.
In Dr Raj Wali Shah Khattak’s opinion, Momand’s progressiveness and modern approach about literary matters had helped him establish a new genre, which was followed by all his disciples.
Majeedullah Khalil said that his death was bad news for the Pakhtun nation, but the ideas he left behind were enough to provide food for thought. He spoke freely and fearlessly. Not only an intellectual par excellence, he was also a thorough human being.
Atiq Ahmed Siddiqui said that Momand strived through his writings to establish a global society based on fair-play and justice.
Host, Shaheen Buneri, restrained several others wanting to speak on Momand’s deeds during his 73 fruitful years in this world. Afghan minister Prof Rasool Amin, Dr Mushtaq, Rohan Yousafzai and Dr Abdur Rahim Marwat also spoke. Younas Qiasi presided over the session.
Next was a thrilling concert of Khial Mohammad, who was performing after a long time on the local track. He said he felt duty-bound to pay tributes to the great person. His spell-binding performance took the listeners to the world of ghazals, of which Khial is undoubtedly an uncrowned king.
The crafty singer also sang some selective ghazals of the late Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari, Younis Qiasi and Rehmat Shah Sail which fitted into Momand’s poetic ideals. The instrumentalists also rose to the occasion and gave their best. Under music director, Mushtaq Sarhadi, the instrumentalists, comprising Riaz Ahmad (drum-beater), Zareef Khan Logari (rabab) and Khan Mohammad (harmonium) explicitly displayed their art.
Khial’s younger son, Wisal Khial, sat behind his shrewd father to help him recall the couplets he at times forgot during the course of his delivery.
The hall burst into thunderous clapping after every item, which encouraged the performers. The listeners longed for more, when it was all over.
