Zia Jalandahry is one of the major poets of Urdu and his demise is a great loss to our literature, said Iftikhar Arif while presiding over a condolence reference for the late poet.
The reference was jointly arranged by Pakistan Academy of Letters and Halqa-e-Arbab-e-Zauq. Abdul Hameed, chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters, was the chief guest. A number of known writers of the twin cities, including Agha Nasir, Dr. Ahsan Akbar, Aftab Iqbal Shamim, Jalil Aali, Yousaf Hassan, Dr Ghazanfar Mehdi, Hameed Shahid, Dr Najeeba Arif, Manzar Naqvi, Abid Sial, Ali Muhammad Farshi and Parvaiz Shah, attended the occasion and expressed their views on the works and personality of Zia Jalandahry.
In his speech, Iftikhar Arif appreciated the quality of his poetry and said he was one of the major Urdu poets, who set trends in Urdu poetry and made a considerable addition to poetic traditions.
Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) Chairman Abdul Hameed praised the poetic style of Zia Jalandahry and remarked that history of modern Urdu poem was incomplete without mentioning Jalandahry. He further commented that Zia Jalandahry choose modern way of writing without loosing his attachment with traditional poetry. His was among the pioneers of Halqa-e-Arbab-e-Zauq and did a lot for its promotion. He spent more than 50 years in writing and creating a remarkable poetry. His poetry also shows considerable marks of influence of western poetic traditions, he added.
Hameed told the participants that Pakistan Academy of Letters had produced a brief introductory book on his poetry and personality. In recognition of his literary achievements, the Pakistan government had conferred upon him presidential award while Pakistan Academy of Letters had awarded National Literary Award on his book ‘Dam-e-Subh’. Yousuf Hassan said Punjabis had expressed their extraordinary creativity potential in many other languages in addition to their mother tongue. He said Zia Jalandahry earned a prominent place among modern Urdu poets.