Sakinan-e-Shahar held its 28th International Mushaira (poet symposium) on February 25th this year, at the Expo Centre, Karachi.
Lynchpin of the Mushaira was Mahmood Ahmad Khan, who with his able time organized the event. It may be recalled that the first such event was organized in 1989 at National Stadium, Karachi. The pioneer of the international Mushaira was Azhar Abbas Hashmi.
Those who cooperated with him at that time were: Syed Saffanulah, Dr. Pirzada Qasim, Raza Siddiqui, Masood Naqvi, Dr. Nayar, and Aziz Masoodi.
Till Azhar Abbas Hashmi remained alive, Mushaira used to be held on March 23, Pakistan Day.
Mahmood Ahmad Khan in a special session vowed to hold Mushaira every year to continue the mission of the late Hashmi.
It is also to be noticed that Hashmi gave responsibility for holding the event to Mahmood Ahmad Khan during his life.
Under the leadership of Khan, Mushairas continued. The Mushaira on 25th February was held in an excellent manner.
It began at 10 pm and continued till morning. Governor Sindh Kamran Tesori was the chief guest, while renowned poet Sehar Ansari presided over it.
After the recitation of the Holy Quran and Naat, Mahmood Ahmad said the Mushaira is a gift to those people, who love the Urdu language. He thanked the governor and poets who accepted the invitation of Mushaira.
It was also observed that poets, who were not invited, were critical of organizers, forgetting the fact that organizing such a huge event was a big task.
Addressing the gathering, Tesori began with a poem. He said the Urdu language gives a message of love to everyone. He further said Mushairas played a key role in the development of Urdu. Nizamat was conducted by Wajih Sani, Shakil Khan, and Dr. Ambrin Anbar. It was observed that the standard of Nizamat was not of quality, it was below the required standard.
A beautiful pandal was set up, where chairs were also kept for those who could not sit on the carpet. The presence of several publishing houses was a unique feature of the event. The publishing houses attracted a large number of people, showing Karachi as a city of educated and literature-loving people.
A good parking area was set up in addition to food stalls for the convenience of the people.
A large number of poets attended the event. They included: Abbas Tabish, Khalid Irfan, Wasi Shah, Rahman Fars, Shakil Jazib, and Rehana Qamar. They were applauded by the audience. Indian poet Hasan Kazmi and poetess Alina Ishart were given warm welcome.
Others who recited their poetry were: Sehar Ansari, Pirzada Qasim, Raza Siddiqui, Mahmood Sham, Anwar Shaour, Khwaja Razi Haider, Dr. Shadab Ahsani, Tariq Subz wari, Fazil Jamili, Anbreen Haseeb, Dr. Qamar Ruzvi, Pirzada Salman, Dr. Salman Sarwat, Abbas Mumtaz, Zafar Bhopali Muzamil Athar (Karachi), Abbas Tabish, Hameeda Shahee, Shukat Fahim, Itabaf Abrak, Amara Iqbal, Lahore. Shakil Jazib, Ahmad Ataullah (Islamabad), Hasan Kazmi, Alina Itrat (India), Khalid Irfan, Rehana Qamar, Naheed Wark and Majeed Akhta (America), Ashfaq Hussain, Canada, Atif Tauqir (Germany) Suman Shah, France, Zahórul Islam Javed, Dr. Sabahat Wasti (UAE).
Important dignitaries like Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon, Dr. Saifur Rahman, administrator, Karachi, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Mustafa Kamal, Dr. Farooq Sattar, and Amir Khan of MQM. PPP senator Syed Waqar Mahdi and PMLN senator Nehal Hashmi and former Sindh governor Moinuddin Haidar attended the Mushaira.
Dr. Saifur Rahman in his concluding remarks said combating terrorism, one way is to promote literary activities
He said for years Sakinan-e- Shahar is doing this work by holding Mushaira every year. He praised Mahmood Ahmad Khan and his team for this wonderful job.
