Poets and writers are the most sensitive class of any society and they have always taken an active part in liberation movements throughout history in different regions.
These sentiments were expressed by the Federal Secretary for National Heritage and Integration, Asif Ghafoor while presiding over the National Literary Seminar on “Literature and Tehreek-e-Pakistan”. The seminar was arranged in connection with the death anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah by the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL).
Asif Ghafoor said that during the independence movement of the subcontinent, Sir Syed was the first man who made Muslims aware of their distinctive existence. He invoked in Muslims a consciousness for being free and educated them for the purpose.
If the writers’ community had not been the first great fighters for independence, perhaps the British would have not left India that early. He said that Allama Iqbal had dreamt of an independent country and he had gone on to demand a separate region in his Allahabad address. Asif said that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Muhammad Ali Johar, Hasrat Mohani and Mian Bashir Ahmed were all poets who invoked a spirit of patriotism through their songs.
Dr Ehsan Akbar, the chief guest, said that a better class had participated in the Pakistan Movement and poets and writers had always stood in the first row. They had convinced and prepared common people for the movement trhough their patriotic songs and prose. Therefore it is true that the intellectuals of the region had played a significant role in the Pakistan Movement.
Chairman PAL, Abdul Hameed said that today’s seminar was an effort to pay tribute from our side to our great leader. He announced that PAL will arrange a glorious ceremony on December 25, regarding Quaid-e-Azam’s birthday.
Prof Jalil Aali said that the Pakistan Movement is intact with an effort to remember a separate identity and cultural independence of Muslims.
Prof Hameedullah Hashmi said that the Pakistan Movement awakened new excitement and life in the poets and writers’ community, new flowers blossomed in literature. Dr Salah-ud-Din Darvaish presented a sketch on Quaid-e-Azam written by Manto.
