Literary forum holds Eid Milan Mushaira

Karwan-e-Urdu Qatar, a Doha-based literary organisation, celebrated Eid al-Adha on July 15 by holding an Eid Milan Mushaira at the residence of its founder president and eminent poet Ateeq Anzar in Doha.The poetic evening witnessed the presence of many distinguished social and literary personalities of Doha along with a large gathering of Urdu lovers.A dinner was also hosted on the occasion at Anzar's residence before the beginning of the mushaira.The mushaira began with the recitation of the verses of the Holy Qur’an by Mohamed Farooq Assami. The mushaira was presided over by Ibrahim Khan Kamal, a well-known personality in Doha’s Urdu literary circle, and who has been living in Qatar for almost four decades and has played a vital role in the promotion of the Urdu language and literature in this part of the Middle East.Rashid Alam Rashid, vice-president of Karwan-e-Urdu Qatar and an eminent Urdu poet, graced the occasion as the chief guest, while Muzaffar Nayab, an eloquent poet who is known for penning the chronological verses in Urdu, was the guest of honour. The mushaira was conducted by Syed Shakil Ahmed.In his welcome speech, the host and the founder president of Karwan-e-Urdu Qatar, Anzar said he was overwhelmed by the huge turnout of the audience.He said that it is the participation of the audience which makes any function a grand success, and establishes the fact that any language and literature will only flourish with the love and support of the people.Anzar thanked Abdul Hassan Kareem Chogle, an eminent NRI and businessman, academician and chairperson of many literary, social and educational organisations; Azeem Abbas, an enterprising figure and chairperson of Karwan-e-Urdu Qatar; Khursheed Ahmed, chairman Bazme Alig, Qatar; Khalid Dad Khan, president Anjumane Mohibbane Urdu Qatar; Qamruz-Zaman Bhutti, president Majlise Faroghe Urdu Adab, Qatar; Obaid Tahir, secretary general Majlise Faroghe Urdu Adab, Qatar; and Ali Imran, ex-president of AMU Alumni Association, Qatar.Among the poets who earned the applause of the audience were Rashid Alam Rashid, Muzaffar Nayab, Ateeq Anzar, Shad Aakolvi, Yousuf Kamal, Iftekhar Raghib, Nadeem Mahir, Ejaz Haidar, Syed Shakil Ahmad, Zawwar Husain Zair, Raqim Azmi, Ashfaque Deshmukh, Enam Azmi and Shazeb Shahab, for their response and support for the poetic evening.While delivering his presidential speech Ibrahim Khan Kamal urged the lovers of Urdu to maintain the traditions of Urdu mushairas as they are an integral part and essence of Urdu culture.The successful poetic evening ended with the vote of thanks by media secretary of Karwan-e-Urdu Qatar Dr Neshat Ahmed Siddiqui.