By Aymen Zaheer
RIYADH — Pakistan Writers Club , Riyadh, an association of expatriate Pakistani writers, poets and journalists, and its Ladies Chapter marked the 70th Independence Day of Pakistan and Saudi National Day by hosting an Annual PWC Mushaira last weekend here.
Pakistan Ambassador Manzoor Ul Haq was the chief guest. Shaukat Jamal, a renowned Urdu poet, presided over the event. Many notable personalities from the local community attended the event, including officials of the Pakistan Embassy.
Ashiq Hussein, PWC vice president, began the event by stating the purpose of the get-together. He mentioned that PWC was hosting this Mushaira to mark the Pakistani Independence Day and the Saudi National Day.
The event began with recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an by Kaleem Iqbal and a melodious Naat from Fayyaz Malik, followed by the singing of the Pakistani and Saudi national anthems.
PWC members presented a stunning satirical skit on conventional Mushaira. Ashiq Hussain, Zubair Bhatti, Farah Ehsan (Convener LC) and Saim Abdul Rauf as a volunteer, participated in it and they received huge applause from the audience. Ehsan Abbasi, Fayyaz Malik and Farah Ehsan then resumed the proceedings of Mushaira.
Abbasi shared the objectives of the event and highlighted that the Mushaira was a tribute to Abdul Sattar Edhi. He added that in this Mushaira, poets came from Bahrain, Al-Khobar and Dammam in addition to poets from Riyadh. The poets recited their poetry in Urdu, English, Punjabi, Sindhi and Pashto languages. Prayer for Quetta victims along with other great personalities like Amjad Sabri and Edhi were performed.
Nineteen (19) brilliant poets participated in the Mushaira. They included Mrs. Shahnaz Akhter Qureshi, Amjad Siddiqi, Aymen Zaheer, Sajjad Chaudhary, Syed Manzar Zaidi, Sajida Chaudhary, Saeed Ashar, Rasheed Adil Sarki, Riaz Shahid, Iqbal Tariq, Waqar Naseem Wamiq, Dr. Hina Ambreen Tariq, Iqbal Qamar, Rana Khadim Hussain, Ms. Qudsia Nadim Lali, Sadaf Afridi, Hesham Syed, Professor Iqbal Ejaz Baig and Shaukat Jamal.
All the poets invigorated the spirit of patriotism with their enchanting verses, poems and odes. Jamal, president of Mushaira, recited beautiful verses about Pakistan and won the hearts of the audience with his humorous and comedic poetry. He thanked PWC for such a wonderful evening.
Pakistan ambassador congratulated PWC and members of its ladies’ chapter for hosting a literary sitting and rekindling the tradition of Mushaira, on the eve of Pakistan Independence Day and the coming Saudi National Day. He said, Saudi Arabia is our second home and the Pak-Saudi friendship is very strong. We have a very long history of friendly relations with Saudi Arabia.
He added that to celebrate the Independence Day with fervor, is the symbol of a living nation. He added that he felt solace at seeing the passion of nationalism in all poets, and all need to defend Pakistan with the same spirit. He hoped to hear beautiful verses from this platform in future too.
Abdul Rauf Mughal, president of PWC, extended his heartfelt gratitude towards the ambassador for attending. He expressed his sincere thanks to all the poets and also thanked the audience for their presence along with the PWC club members and its ladies chapter for their efforts and dedication.
He added, PWC would try its best to maintain the traditional celebrations pertaining to Pakistan. He added, that people should leave no stone unturned for Pakistan’s integrity.
Memento shields were awarded to Jamal, along with all the other poets in recognition for their literary work. The event concluded with a sumptuous dinner.
