Bazm-e-Urdu Qatar (BUQ), described as the oldest Urdu literary organisation in Qatar (established in 1959), recently organised a mushaira and a launch ceremony for the Urdu prose book 'Dastaan dar Dastaan' by Mohamed Sulaiman Dehlvi.
The author, a pioneer of grand international mushairas in Qatar, has been a resident since 1975, a statement said. He founded the Indo-Qatar Urdu Markaz in 1986, which initiated a series of international poetry symposiums in Qatar. He also organised six grand mushairas. The noted literary personalities of the sub-continent who were invited to Qatar by Dehlvi included Hafeez Meerthi, Kaleem Ajiz, Tabish Dehlvi, Majroh Sultanpuri, Ali Sardar Jafri, Shamsur Rehman Farooqi, Saeed Shuhaidi, Akhtar ul Eman, Jagannath Azad, Malikzada Manzoor, Raza Ali Abidi, Hilal Siharvi, Hemayat Ali Shayer, Waali Aasi, Munnwar Rana, Kaifi Azmi, Intizar Naeem, Ghulam Rabbani Taban, Kanwar Mahinder Singh Bedi Sahar, Gulzar Dehlvi, Tabish Mehdi, Waseem Barelvi and Sudarshan Fakhir among many others.
The programme was presided over by Dr Faisal Hanif, chairman of BUQ and president of Ghazrgah-e-Khayal Forum. Visiting Indian writer and scholar Maulana Dr Sirajuddin Nadvi and Waseem Ahmed, a key member of Bazm were chief guests. Dehlvi was the guest of honour. The evening was hosted by the BUQ president Mohamed Rafique Shad Akolvi.
The programme began with the recitation of verses from Holy Qur'an by Aslam Aziz Nadvi. BUQ general secretary Iftekhar Raghib welcomed the gathering. In the book launching segment, Waseem Ahmed and Akolvi presented their essays highlighting the various characteristics of Dehlvi's work and personality in addition to his literary services.
Dr Hanif presented an elegant humorous character sketch which immensely delighted the audience. This sketch is also included in the book. Poets Muzaffar Nayab and Iftekhar Raghib presented their poems offering tributes to Dehlvi, who has also made significant contributions to the promotion and preservation of Urdu literature and culture in Qatar. He instituted the annual inter-school Urdu debates in 1988 among students studying Urdu. With his efforts, the examination centre of Jamia Urdu Aligarh in Qatar was also established in 1990. He established the first Urdu library in Qatar, "Indo Qatar Urdu Library" in 1993 and the books were donated to Qatar National Library in 2019. He issued the first international Urdu literary award "Hazrat Amir Khusro" from Qatar in 1994.
'Dastaan dar Dastaan' is a compilation of various essays Dehlvi has written about the culture and traditions of old Delhi and its people. The book is a tribute to the city that he has called home for many years.
In the second segment of the programme, the mushaira, local poets including Shad Akolvi, Iftekhar Raghib, Muzaffar Nayab, Qaiser Masood, Wasi Bastwi, Raza Hussain Raza, Inam Azmi, Bijnath Sharma Minto, and Mubasir Iman presented poems.
In the end, Dehlvi narrated some interesting incidents from his book and thanked BUQ for organising the event. Akolvi proposed a vote of thanks. The event was attended by a diverse audience of literary enthusiasts.
Besides the distinguished guests and poets on the stage, the other attendees included Urdu enthusiasts Feroz Khan, Shamsuddin Rahimi, Ashraf Siddiqui, Asif Hussain, Afroz Dawar, Hamid Ali, Mohamed Ghiyasuddin, Sajjad Alam, Mohamed Danish, Sohail Ahmed Wafa, Siraj Alam, Sultan Ahmed, Dr Ayaz Ahmed, Dr Rizwan, Dr Faisal Nazir, Hasan Badr, Irshad, Mukhtar Ahmed and Kazem Faisal Hanif.
