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Thursday March 28, 2024

Eulogies given to six literary luminaries no longer with us

By Bilal Ahmed
December 07, 2020

Continuing with its praiseworthy tradition of reserving at least one session in memory of noteworthy writers, poets, literary scholars and even those involved in other art forms who died in recent years, the International Urdu Conference at the Arts Council of Pakistan on its third day on Saturday featured speeches in tribute to six literary personalities.

The session did not include any speech on the late Dr Asif Farrukhi — a fiction writer, translator, critic and the founder of multiple literature festivals in the country who was a major driving force in the literary environment of Karachi for many years — as he had already been given a befitting tribute on the conference’s inaugural day on Thursday, with personalities like Zehra Nigah, Iftikhar Arif, Shamim Hanafi, Afzal Ahmed Syed, Fatima Hasan and Wajahat Masood pouring their hearts out to the audience in his memory.

The session on Saturday was titled ‘Yaad-e-Raftagan’ (memory of departed ones) and moderated by Nadeem Zafar Siddiqui.

Masood Mufti

The first departed soul who was remembered was a bureaucrat. Fiction and reportage writer Masood Mufti, who died on November 10, had been posted to East Pakistan in 1971, six months before the fall of Dhaka.

He then spent a month in the new country of Bangladesh and two years in Indian custody as a war prisoner, said fiction writer and critic Muhammad Hameed Shahid. The speaker added that the wounds inflicted on Mufti due to the separation of East Pakistan were never healed, and his literary creations reflected that.

Shahid said Mufti’s father was a principled and pious man, and he had acquired the sense of true religion from him, which was altogether different from how he saw religion manifesting in society.

This contrast between the true spirit of religion and how it manifested in a corrupted form in society was also a constant theme in his fiction, added the speaker.

Chehre, Humnafas, Chehre aur Mohre and Mohaddab Sheesha are the names of some of the collections of short stories penned by Mufti.

Mazhar Mehmood Sherani

The life and works of the late linguist Mazhar Mehmood Sherani, who was the son of renowned poet Akhtar Sherani and grandson of linguist Hafiz Mehmood Sherani (famous for his theory on the origins of Urdu in Punjab), were discussed by Dr Rauf Parekh. Mazhar passed away this June.

Dr Parekh remembered the late scholar as someone who was well-versed in all classic disciplines, particularly Persian. He said Mazhar had penned around 50 books, and his PhD thesis was on his grandfather.

The speaker mentioned two great literary projects undertaken by the late scholar: one of which he was able to complete but not the other. The project completed by Mazhar was the compilation of all the works by his grandfather in 10 volumes. Dr Parekh said the annotations by Mazhar in those 10 volumes spoke of his immense knowledge.

The other major project that Mazhar had undertaken was the compilation of a special Persian dictionary, said the speaker, adding that after his retirement as a professor, the late scholar was asked by the Government College University Lahore to help them compile a Persian dictionary that would contain all the Persian words used by the writers of the Indian subcontinent in their Persian writings that were not spoken in the Iranian register of the Persian language.

Dr Parekh said that it was a five-volume project but Mazhar could only complete a few volumes. The speaker added that the late scholar had a peculiar sense of humour, and he also started writing personality sketches of his peers in his later years.

Sarwar Javed

Journalist Peerzada Salman spoke on the late Sarwar Javed, a poet and critic who also left for his heavenly abode this year. The speaker, however, talked very little. And his brief talk mainly revolved around how the late poet was neglected.

Javed had to die for others to have a talk about him, said Salman. He asked if there were any institutions in our society that could accept a personality like Javed. While concluding, the speaker recited two verses by the late poet. One of which was: “Ishq mein sab ko kahan dasht-e-safar chahiye tha / hum mein who bhi thay keh jin logon ko ghar chahiye tha [In the journey of love, not all of us had wanted a desert to travel / As there were some among us who had wanted a place to rest].”

Inayat Ali Khan

The late Inayat Ali Khan, whom some may recall as Inayat Ali Khan Taunki whose poems they had read in Urdu textbooks during school years, was the next luminary discussed at the session. He was discussed by Shakeel Khan.

Inayat was born in the 1930s in the Tank state of India and died this year at 85. The speaker recited one of the couplets by the late poet that has become a proverb in Urdu: “Haadse se bara saaneha yeh hua / log thehre nahin haadsa dekh kar [A bigger tragedy occurred after the accident, which was that no passer-by stopped after witnessing the accident].”

Although this is serious poetry, much of Inayat’s fame lies in his humorous verses that he started to compose in the 1970s. The speaker said that among others, legendary humour writer Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi was also an admirer of Inayat’s humorous poetry. The speaker also discussed the difficult life of the poet who had to take care of a mentally challenged son besides facing economic struggles.

Rahat Indori

Poet Ambareen Haseeb Amber talked about one of the most popular Indian poets of our times, Rahat Indori, who died of Covid-19 during this pandemic.

She said the late poet was criticised by some quarters for his expressive body language while reciting poetry in mushairas, but it was his natural style. Responding to his critics, she said they might not place Rahat among serious literary poets, but they could not deny that his place was in the hearts of the public who overwhelmingly praised him in mushairas.

It is not easy to keep on mesmerising audiences for 45 years straight, said Ambareen, adding that fame often comes and goes in the blink of an eye, and it is something special to rule mushairas for so long. She also mentioned that the late poet had written songs for films, including Munna Bhai MBBS and Ishq, as well.

The speaker also recalled the humility of Rahat and his last interview that she had conducted for an online programme.

Athar Shah Khan Jaidi

Poet and playwright Athar Shah Khan, who is popularly known by the comic character of Jaidi that he created and enacted on television, was the last personality who was paid tribute at the session.

Speaking on Jaidi, journalist Imran Sherwani said he encountered the late writer in his childhood through a television programme, and the first film he watched in cinema, Baazi, was penned by the late writer.

Sherwani explained that at that time, Jaidi was in Lahore and was yet to gain immense popularity that awaited him in Karachi.

It was after shifting to Karachi that Jaidi wrote the television play ‘Intizar Farmaiye’, in which he created the character of Jaidi and enacted that. As people started calling him Jaidi, he took that name as his Takhallus (poetic pseudonym) for his humorous poetry, said the speaker. He also recalled Jaidi’s radio programme that enthralled the public for many years.