Poetry book launching ceremony held in Murree

Pakistanis are generally passionate about poetry but the mountainous city of Murree recently purred with a different kind of ceremony when it hosted an opening ceremony of ‘Tum se kehna tha’, the first poetry collection of Urdu Department head at Army Public College, Professor Wasim Jibran.

Punjab Arts Council Murree arranged the event. The first session was actually the launching ceremony of the poetry collection. The second session consisted of mushaira wherein poets recited their poetry in-front of large number of Urdu poetry lovers who descended in huge numbers including the students.

The chief guest of the ceremony was Principal Army Public College Murree Brigadier (r) Ahmad Waqas Saleh, the honorary guests were Zaheer Abbas Sair and Muhammad Asif Mirza. The ceremony was beautifully conducted by Saleem Akhter.

Punjab Arts Council Murree puts in a lot of efforts to engage poetry lovers and is delighted to have kept this tradition alive. It believes Urdu is more than just a language; it is a culture in itself. This art of oration needs to be preserved and nurtured.

Known for its contribution to the social, educational and cultural life of Murree as the patron of Urdu poetry and Mushairas Punjab Arts Council Murree invited the well-renowned Urdu poets who recited their best ‘shayari’ before the connoisseurs.

The star attraction at the event was Professor Wasim Jibran who regaled the audience for some time with a wide range of poetry recitations. Veteran poets Nisar Turabi, Zaheer Abbas Sair and Asif Mirza enthralled the audience with their awe-inspiring style. Other poets also entertained the audience with their poetry.

Punjab Arts Council Murree has been organizing literary ceremonies for promoting people’s educational, cultural and social aspirations. In the past, many big poets have come to Murree, but this event by far stood above the rest in terms of performances and audience response.

Besides, Chief Guest Brigadier (r) Ahmad Waqas Saleh, Zaheer Abbas Sair and Nisar Turabi, those who spoke on the occasion about the art and personality of the poet included Hasan Rasheed Shami, Saleem Akhter and Anwaar Hussain. All paid tribute to Wasim Jibran in their own way.

Brigadier (r) Ahmad Waqas Saleh said: “I have grown up hearing about the launching ceremonies of poetry books and mushairas like this and it is really an honour for me to participate in this grand event. I would like to congratulate the organizers for working to keep our literary and linguistic culture alive,” he added.

The event was wrapped up with a thank you note to appreciate the presence of a public audience of over 300 people, majority of whom take avid interest in listening to poetry.