JEDDAH, 8 July — Two prominent Indian Urdu poets, and a few living in the Kingdom recited their poetry amid cheers from over 300 receptive audience in a mushaira organized here Thursday by the Khak-e-Taiba Trust.
Cutting across the geographical boundaries, poets and audience from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also participated in a rare show of solidarity for the cause of Urdu. The money raised from the mushaira will be used in the humanitarian causes, the organizers said.
Though most of the poets espoused the misery of Muslims in Gujarat through their compositions, India-Pakistan relationship was also one of the dominant topics in their compositions.
An emerging voice in contemporary Urdu poetry, Manzar Bhopali, in a few of his couplets highlighted the plight and agony of Indian Muslims in the aftermath of Gujarat riots. In a scathing attack on the Hindutva forces for unleashing a reign of terror, Manzar reminded the contribution of Muslims to India:
“Humne is mulk ki taqdeer badal di Manzar; Phir bhi hum mulk ke ghaddar kahe jate hain.”
He also warned the divisive forces not to underestimate the might of the Muslim community in one of his couplets:
“Taqdeer hamari hai aur Khuda hamara hai; aks pe na itrao; aina hamara hai;
Ghairat-e-jehad apni zakhm kha ke jagegi; pehla war tum ker lo; doosra hamara hai.”
One of his poetry summed up the apprehension of Muslims over the controversial terror law — Prevention of Organized Terror Act (POTA). Manzar gave voice to the minority community’s feeling about the act in his couplet:
“Bachcha bachcha kare Dilli telephone; nahin chalega, nahin chalega ye kala qanoon.”
Bashir also said a few verses on the Hindu-Muslim clashes. One of his couplets was a mirror of his pain and dismay over the communal clashes:
“Log toot jate hain ek ghar banane mein;
tum tars nahin khate bastiyaan jalane mein”.
Bashir’s couplet on Indo-Pak relationship was also applauded. He emphasized that when heart is not clear, fear and apprehension is in our heart, talks will not yield any result. He summed up the present love-hate relationship between India and Pakistan in his couplet:
“Mohabbatoon mein dikhawe ki doosti na mila; agar gale nahin milta to haath bhi na mila”.
Ghazal, the traditional genre of Urdu poetry, was the main feature of the mushaira which was recited by all poets.
Bashir while speaking about the tradition of ghazal in Urdu poetry said “ghazal dwells in the hearts of countless music lovers across the world and reports of its imminent demise are off the mark. “There may be new trends in ghazal singing, but its form is not dying. It is everlasting,” he said.
Local poet Nayeem Bazitpuri, Naseem-e-Sehr, Shabana Iqbal, Zafar Mehndi and Azra Naqvi were the others who recited their poetry.
A poet from Madinah Hasan Askari added a lighter tone to the otherwise serious session with a few of his humorous compositions.
While Aleem Khan Falki was the anchor of the evening, Tariq Ghazi welcomed the guests and highlighted the contributions of the trust.
