A seminar held here on Sunday paid glowing tributes to great Hindko mystic poet, Sain Ahmad Ali and called for setting up a chair at the University of Peshawar to carry out in-depth research on the work of the saint.
The event was organised by the literary, cultural and social welfare organisation, Gandhara Hindko Board (GHB) at the newly established Gandhara Auditorium to mark the 71st death anniversary of the sufi poet. Riaz Ahmad, the great grandson of a freedom fighter from the Walled City of Peshawar and a revolutionary poet, Meher Mitho, was the chief guest on the occasion while a Hindko writer, poet and researcher Sabir Hussain Imdad presided over the function attended by a considerable number of people.
The literati and devotees expressed reverence for the great mystic of the 19th century. The speakers hailed his poetry as an asset to humanity, saying Sain gave a message of love, peace and brotherhood, something direly needed in this troubling age.
The speakers spoke about the life and work of the sufi whose poetic compositions ran into thousands, but only a fraction of those could reach this time through oral traditions. "Sufi poets such as Rehman Baba, Bul-e-Shah, Shah Abdul Lateef Bhitai and Sain Ahmad Ali have all laid stress on love and peace. Their teachings need to be preached and spread for a better world," said Imdad, one of the speakers, in his detailed paper that he read out on the occasion.
The participants in their speeches called for bringing into fine print more work of Sain. They were all praise for the GHB that compensated for the neglect shown to the great poetry of the saint in the past by publishing three books - 'Sain Ahmad Ali', by Professor Dr Zahoor Ahmad Awan, 'Peer Sain' by Mohammad Zaiuddin and 'Kulyaat-e-Sain' by Mohammad Ismail Awan. They urged the government to come forward to help dig out and publish the rest of the work of the Hindko mystic.
The GHB Secretary, Mohammad Ziauddin asked the government to give Sain Ahmad Ali's work due attention as his poetry was in Hindko that was the second main language of the NWFP and needed official support and patronage.
He announced that the GHB would soon publish an international edition of Sain Ahamd's work. "The book will be in four languages - Hindko, Pashto, Urdu and English," he added, saying Sultan Fareedi had carried out translation into Pashto and Urdu. Through a resolution, the seminar demanded of the government to officially celebrate Sain Ahmad Ali Day, construct a befitting tomb of the sufi poet outside Kohati Gate and implement the City District Government decision of naming the Gubahar Chowk as Sain Ahmad Ali Chowk. Later, 15 poets paid poeticised tributes to the illustrious mystic of Hindko language, who, apart from NWFP, also has a considerable following in the vast area of Potohar. Singers Ahmad Nadeem Awan and Saeed Paris rendered verses from the Sain work and won plaudits from the audience.-PR
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