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Mushaira marks beginning of Pak I-Day celebrations

DUBAI — An international Urdu mushaira (poetry session), organised by the World Writers Forum Dubai on Thursday, marked the beginning of the celebrations of the Pakistan Independence Day, which falls on August 14.

Leading poets from Pakistan along with locally based poets read their verses at the packed Khartoum Hall of the Sudanese Club.

Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE, Air Marshal (retd) Syed Qaiser Hussain, was the chief guest, while Haji Abdul Razzak, Chairman of the ARY Group and President of the World Memon Organisation, and Shahzada Ayub Khan Naiyar, Chairman of Urdu Post and Dubai Times, were the guests of honour.

The subject of many of the poetry renditions was Pakistan, its creation and the present conditions in the country.

The mushaira was presided over by Pakistan's prominent poet Amjad Islam Amjad. Other poets included Syed Khalid Yazdani and Farhat Abbas from Lahore; Azm Behzad from Karachi; and Zahoorul Islam Javaid, Yaqoob Tasawwur, Sadia Roshan, Tasneem Abidi, Ashraf Shaad, Musaddaq Lakhani, Sabiha Saba, Shahzaman Kauser, Talib Naqvi, Saghir Jafri, Dr Sarwat Zahra, Farzana Sahab Mirza, Mohammad Abdul Qudoos, and B. N. Sajid, were from the UAE.

Awards were presented by the Pakistan ambassador to selected UAE-based Pakistanis for their lifetime achievements in their respective fields of specialisation. They included Mohammad Abdul Qudoos, correspondent of Khaleej Times, for completion of 25 years of services to English journalism in the UAE, Shaikh Mohammad Pervaiz for his services to Urdu journalism, and Waseemul Haq Chishti for promotion of Urdu mushairas in the UAE.

Awards were also presented to Haji Abdul Razzak, Abdul Razzak Jangda, Shahzada Ayub Khan Naiyar, Tahir Muneer Tahir, Sharafat Ali Shah, and Huma Ateeq.

The mushaira was conducted by Zahoorul Islam Javaid while the award ceremony proceedings were conducted by Sharafat Ali Shah.

Ambassador Qaiser, who stayed throughout the mushaira till 2am, spoke of his love for Urdu poetry despite being a fighter pilot. One of the verses he always remembered was, Mohabbat Mujhay In Jawanoon Say Hai. He said that the selection of poetry changes after the age of 40. He thanked all the sponsors of the mushaira for their contribution to the promotion of Urdu poetry in the UAE.