Opening day of Urdu Conference features Jaun Elia and Anwar Maqsood

The opening day of the 11th International Urdu Conference at the Arts Council auditorium featured two highly engrossing sessions on the late poet Jaun Elia and living legend Anwar Maqsood, a paragon of humour and healthy satire.

The first session featuring Jaun Elia was a panel discussion comprising Aneeq Ahmed as moderator, former Karachi University vice-chancellor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, Iqbal Haider, Shahid Rissam, Shakil Adilzada and Abbas Naqvi.

Siddiqui, a close friend and associate of the late poet, said Jaun Elia was currently the craze in Urdu literature the world over. He dubbed the phenomenon Jaunism, saying 22 of his works had been translated into various international languages which had made him a world renowned figure.

“He never brought things to an end in his poetry as a result of which his verses have left us with so many mysteries, so many conundrums,” said Siddiqui, who is also the vice chancellor of Ziauddin University.

Adilzada said that even though Jaun had migrated from Amroha at the time of Partition, he couldn’t get Amroha out of his system and that was so evident in the nostalgic references in his verse.

“Jaun was a lover of beauty and aesthetics,” he said, adding that Jaun was a philosopher, intellectual and a linguist. He disclosed that he had started off his intellectual career with the recitation of Naats in Amroha. Iqbal Haider rated him as a great upholder of human values.

Anwar Maqsood

Immediately after the session on Jaun Elia was the one on living legend and humourist Anwar Maqsood. As usual his speech was a collage of the most humorous and satirical of snippets.

Lauding Arts Council president Ahmed Shah’s devotion to the promotion of art and culture, he said, “Had Shah devoted the same energy and time to the issue of the Kalabagh Dam, it would have been completed long ago.” This sent peals of laughter through the audience.

In jest, he said he had a liaison with Jaun and had just received a letter from him in the hereafter. According to Maqsood, Jaun had written about a current leading political personality, “Niazi hai magar Niazmand Naheen”.

Another snippet he quoted from the letter was, “Ache siastdan ke liya lazmi hai ke wo acha beimaan ho” (It is essential for every able politician to be a good fraud). His remarks left the audience giggling constantly.