Bazm e Urdu Qatar organise seminar and Gulf Mushaira

Bazm e Urdu Qatar (BU), an expatriate forum established 1959, recently organised a seminar and Gulf Mushaira. The programme was presided over by patron-in-chief Hasan Abdul Kareem Chougule. Renowned poetess and writer Dr Sarwat Zehra, a physician in Sharjah, was the chief guest.

The guests of honour were BU patron and renowned businessman Azeem Abbas and guest poet from Oman, Tufail Ahmed. BU president Ijaz Haider welcomed the guests. The programme commenced with the recitation of the Holy Qur'an by Qari Talha. Secretary Ahmed Ashfaq conducted the event. Athar Azmi, presented the report on 200 years of Urdu journalism, its contributions and the challenges it faces today. The first Urdu newspaper Jam e Jahan Numa published its first edition from Calcutta, India, in 1822.Dr Zehra spoke about the importance of Urdu journalism and pointed out that it has survived two centuries in spite of several odds. The history of the present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would be incomplete without Urdu journalism, he said. The Gulf Mushaira presided over by Chougule saw 17 poets including Dr Zehra, Shahid Riaz (Bahrain), Mohammad Tufail Ahmed (Oman), Masood Hassas (Kuwait), Aisha Sheikh Aashi and Samia Naz Malik (UAE) and local poets Ijaz Haider, Ahmed Ashfaq, Nadeem Jilani, Asif Shafi , Qaisar Masood, Rashid Alam Rashid, Athar Azmi, Tahir Jamil , Raqim Azmi, Ajmal Bismahi and Kapil Batra.The audience included prominent personalities such as Shahabuddin (Bazm e Sadaf), Khalid Dad Khan and Ibrahim Khan from Mohiban e Urdu Hind Qatar, and Altaf Gohar, Bilal Ahmed and Jawed.