Bacha Khan Markaz echoes with music ahead of centenary celebrations
Sher Alam Shinwari
PESHAWAR: Poets and folk singers gathered at Bacha Khan Markaz here on the other day to reverberate the Awami National Party’s head office with national rhymes and rhythm to launch the centenary celebrations of Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek launched by Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan, commonly remembered as an icon of non-violence philosophy to liberate the subcontinent from the British rule.
Bacha Khan wanted Pashtuns owned their own language and culture with a broad vision and continue fighting for their genuine rights with the power of pen and not gun as peace made headways in the hearts, the speakers said before the opening of the event.
Party workers, intellectuals, social activists and music-buffs attended the event. Dr Khadim Hussain, the provincial culture secretary of ANP while opening the event pointed out that poetry and music being inseparable helped inspire and motive masses to celebrate peace laden with pluralism and blended in universalism towards building a forward looking society, adding that it was what Bacha Khan wanted to prevail.
He said that centenary celebrations of the Bacha Khan Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek would kick start from 20th January with countless events from poetry recitals, musical concerts, seminars, theatre to public debate and much more.
“Bacha Khan encouraged poets, writers and artists to play their due role and provided a platform where literati and artists were able to speak out their hearts and mind their inspiring writings and performance. It also paved way for resistance poetry, prose and fiction with valuable substance, the ANP still believes in the strength of art and culture, and owns poets, writers and artists across the board,” Mr Hussain argued.
Young Pashto poet, Mufti Maaz on the occasion said that poetry being the best vehicle of expressing one’s feelings and emotions stirred up positive thinking and aroused the sense of humanism. He said that poets and artists affiliated with the Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek had contributed a lot to the critical thinking of Pashtun youth.
The groups of young enthusiasts tuned to Waziri and Khattak attanr (local dance) in several rounds and garnered thunderous applause from the participants on the occasion.
Poets in their poems recited that literati should hold up the responsivity to enlighten the youth but also spread the message of Bacha Khan, adding that the art of poetry worthy of nothing if it did not share and depict issues and problems of the masses.
The event was divided into two sessions, the first was devoted to Pashto poetry recitation which set the tone for the second session of musical concert in which noted folk singers including Rahman Gul, Shuakat Aziz, Irshad Rabbani and Shuakat Swati sang popular numbers of the nationalist poets–Ajmal Khattak, Ghani Khan and Rahmat Shah Sail.
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