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Paradise Lost
Book Review by Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
Prof Dr Harkirat Singh was for long haunted by the
feeling that justice had not been done to the people of East and West
Punjab who lost so much at the time of partition in 1947. Eventually, the
editor of Daily Tribune (Punjabi) prevailed upon him to write the story of
his own ‘paradise’ in the upper semi desert areas of Multan known as Ganji
Bar, one of the bar (wastelands) along with Sandal, Neeli and Keerana.
Waris Shah and
sociology Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
SHAAISTA Nuzhat has done her masters in
philosophy on the sociological aspect of Waris Shah's poetry which,
according to her, is limited to the story of Heer-Ranjha, an actual
happening of the period of Behlol Lodhi in 1484 AD. Much before the birth
of Waris Shah in 1717, at least three versions of Heer were written in
Persian starting from Akbar's period and another five were written before
Waris Shah completed his writing in 1180 AH
Sachal Sarmast in
English Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
Amrita Pritam: sensitive soul of Punjab
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
This was mainly due to her famous poem on
the partition addressed to Waris Shah in which she grieved over the
carnage that accompanied communal riots of 1947.
Nanak in Punjabi and Urdu
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
AFTER his retirement, octogenarian poet,
teacher and researcher Sharif Kunjahi has done much more research work on
Punjabi themes than during his time spent in the education field.
A Victim of Apathy
Shafqat
Tanveer Mirza
LAHORE has two festivals, Basant and
Mela Chiraghan, which are cultural and secular in nature. Mela Chiraghan
or the Urs of Madho Lal Husain has long been thrown out of the Shalamar
Gardens and the streets which lead to the mazar of the sufi poet have been
encroached upon, courtesy the Qabza group.
Mela Chiraghan is closely associated with
peasants, and the Mughals, the Sikhs and the British administrations used
to observe their festival officially. During the Sikh period, Maharaja
Ranjeet Singh used to lead the procession from the Lahore Fort to the
mazar.
Ranjit Singh: more secular than religious
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
THE Indian government has refused to permit
the Sikhs to visit Pakistan to celebrate traditional Besakhi festival in
Lahore.
New cultural challenges
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
A
FIVE-day international Punjabi conference was held at Chandigarh towards
the end of December. The conference decided to set up a new organization,
the World Punjabi Foundation, it will. start working soon. Ms Afzal
Tauseef a writer and a columnist has been nominated as the convener of the
Pakistani chapter of the foundation. Ms Afzal accompanied a 35-members
delegation from Pakistan, including senior journalists and intellectuals,
Abdullah Malik, Hameed Akhtar, Ahmad Bashir and Anwar Ali, while among the
younger journalists were Tanvir Zahur, Feica the cartoonist, Shaista
Nuzhat and Tauqir Chughtai. The conference was attended by 500 writers and
intellectuals from 20 countries.
The Prophet in Punjabi
by
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
THE Muslim
world is paying homage today to its Prophet (Peace be upon him) who
revolutionized an extremely backward Arab society of the seventh century
AD when even the western world was groping in the darkness. After the
unprecedented success of the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions, the Arabs
spread over almost half of the then known world - some with the sole aim
of introducing an Islamic sociopolitical system and the teachings of the
Prophet (pbuh) while the other extended its rule which turned into what
Iqbal has called imperialism.
Farid's abhorrence of the establishment
by
Shafqat Tanvir Mirza
FARIDUDDIN Masud Ganjshakar is the founder
of Punjabi poetry. His grandfather migrated from Afghanistan because of
continuous Mughal incursions into the neighbouring countries. |
