Munno Bhai in a Mushaira with Haneef Akhgar: 2004 Washington

Monday, June 21, 2004

OP-ED: The final battle —Munnoo Bhai

The only way out of the pit for the US is to sacrifice George W Bush, the president who lost the popular vote in the last election. The final battle in the war for protecting US interests in the Middle East will have to be fought in the form of presidential election this November

GENERAL Montgomery, a hero of World War II, was once asked how many wars he had won. “I won only the last battle,” he had answered. It is the last battle, of course, that determines whether one should count for a winner or loser. The trouble is, nobody knows which battle will prove the last.

Even US President George W Bush, the commander-in-chief and leader of the world’s greatest war machine, is not sure of the battle that will crown him as a world conqueror or condemn him for life to the humiliation of defeat. Worse still, a defeat may not be limited to his person. Like the humiliation in Vietnam it could wound the psyche of the entire nation. Fareed Zakariya of the US weekly Newsweek says the US forces that conquered Baghdad have done well to concede defeat in Falluja, Karbala and Najaf. Conceding defeat, he believes, is better and wiser than being beaten.

The Republican C-in-C of the United States has faced defeat on three fronts besides Falluja, Karbala, and Najaf. Considering occupation of Baghdad their final victory, President Bush and Secretary for Defence Rumsfeld had proudly declared that there would be no need to send more US troops to Iraq. But the need arose and 20,000 US troops had to be sent to reinforce the occupying forces. When it came to invading Iraq, the US government — having pushed Afghanistan into early stone-age — ignored the United Nations. Later it ruled out any role for the UN in Iraq.

It has since been forced to accept the UN’s presence in Iraq after June 30 and to admit its important role in setting up the new Iraqi government. Having seen the consequences of the political blunder in firing the half-million-strong Iraqi army to liquidate the influence of the Baath Party, the US is now forced to seek cooperation from the same Baath Party. Had the US adopted this attitude 14 months ago, Fareed Zakariya believes, the situation would have been different.

A cartoon in the magazine depicts the ground reality. President Bush is shown inviting the new rulers of Iraq to receive the keys to power. Nobody, however, is willing to step ahead to receive the keys because this requires stepping into territory targeted by popular resistance. The American government seems to have neglected the English idiom advising those finding themselves in a well to stop digging and focus instead on safely getting out.

In Washington, where I accompanied Amjad Islam Amjad, Himayet Ali Shair and Hanif Akhgar to participate in the annual meeting of the Association of Pakistani Physicians in North America, Pakistani journalists familiar with diplomatic activities told me the US foreign policy, particularly the policy on the Middle East and the Iraq war had slipped out of the hands of Secretary Rumsfeld and the Pentagon and returned to the National Security Council. Council member Robert Blackwell, they said, was now running the Iraq policy. The blunders caused by the US rulers’ hunger and thirst for oil over the past 14 months are, however, hard to undo.

The Pakistani journalists in Washington believe the only way out of the pit for the US is to sacrifice George W Bush, the president who lost the popular vote in the last election. The final battle in the war for protecting US interests in the Middle East and Gulf countries will have to be fought in the form of presidential election this November. A defeat for Bush will be more important than a victory for John Kerry. Some battles have to be lost on some fronts to win the war.

Pakistani journalists familiar with the US policies say the November 2004 US election results may be more surprising than the results of the recent Indian elections. The thinking that stopped Ahmad Chalabi from becoming Iraq’s new Saddam Hussein can choose to sacrifice Bush to get out of the pit in Iraq. A mistake once may be forgivable; repeating it is an offence.

Munnoo Bhai is a writer and columnist

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_21-6-2004_pg3_3

Urdu Markaz California Mushaira News November 1997

The Urdu Markaz International (California) held a Mushaira on 14 November 1997 at Buena Park, California. It was presided by the famous music director and poet Naushad Ali Lucknavi. Guest poets included: Hanif Akhgar, Ziaul Haq Qasmi, Shakeel Azad, Abbas Tabish, Zafar Rizvi, Zafar Gorakhpuri, Azhar Javeed, Naseem Garogh, Abdullah, and Sabahat Asim.

http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:EX231FvcVJsJ:www.urdustudies.com/pdf/13/27events.pdf+akhgar+haneef+poet&hl=en&gl=uk&pli=1

GLOBETROTTING: Do it in Dallas

GLOBETROTTING: Do it in Dallas

Haneef Akhgar Presides over a Radio Mushairah

DAWN, Karachi, MAG: 25 May 2008

By Sabih Mohsin

The Sixth Floor Museum had been established on the particular floor of the building used by the assassin. It houses a large number of photographs of the incident and some very short films made by amateurs present in the crowd.

Dallas is the ninth largest city in the United States of America. It is an important centre of the oil industry and cotton trade. However, it wasn’t due to any of those distinctions that I visited the city. The only reason that compelled me to go there was the fact that the 35th president of the US, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated there more than 40 years ago.

Kennedy, the youngest person to be elected president of the US, commanded high popularity all over the world, not only for his youthful looks but also for his progressive views. He and his wife Jacqueline made the most charming couple of their time. His unexpected death under such tragic circumstances created a worldwide stir and grief that anybody who lived anywhere in the world at the time can ever forget.

When I went to Houston to see friends and relatives, I made it a point to slip out of that circle to make a brief visit to Dallas, which is about a five-hour drive from there.

Neither I nor my younger brother Jamaal, who drove me to Dallas, had any idea about the spot where Kennedy was killed on November 22, 1963. But we had in mind the example of the Quaid’s Mazaar in our own Karachi, where directions to the mausoleum have been marked on signboards in almost all parts of the city. So we thought it would be no problem to reach there once we entered the city.

But we were wrong. There were no such signboards anywhere. We decided to seek help from some passersby. We talked to several persons on the road but to our surprise no one seemed to know anything about it. Some of them even reacted in a manner that indicated as if they had never heard about that tragic incident before. We were greatly disappointed but continued our effort to locate something which, we thought, should have been in everyone’s knowledge. Finally, we were able to locate a truck-driver who was knowledgeable enough to give us directions.

When we reached the spot, there was nothing there to indicate that it was the location of a historic incident. Suddenly, I realised that I was standing in front of a building that seemed to be very familiar. Yes, it was the Texas School Depository from the sixth floor corner window of which Lee Harvey Oswald was believed to have fired the shots that had killed the president. I had seen the photograph of that building in newspapers and magazines of those days so many times that the image could never be erased from my memory. Yes, I was at the right place.

We discovered that a museum known as the Sixth Floor Museum had been established on the particular floor of the building used by the assassin. It housed a large number of photographs of the incident and some very short films made by amateurs present in the crowd. Audio recordings of running commentaries of radio commentators describing the tragic event have also been preserved there.

A memorial had been erected for the slain president but it stands about 200 yards away from the actual spot, one block towards the east. Our eastern eyes are used to huge memorials like the Quaid-i-Azam’s Mazaar, Bhutto’s Mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Bukhsh, or the Taj Mahal but this was too simple. It comprised of a 50x30ft square of white concrete walls with a cenotaph inside. We were told that the structure was illuminated at night. That was all. Having accomplished the main purpose of our visit, we turned to other things. Opposite the Kennedy Memorial there stood a building which attracted attention due to its antique architecture and a clock tower. It was the Old Red Courthouse Building. Built in 1890, it is one of the oldest buildings in Dallas. At present, it is being used as a museum.

Then we decided to spend the short time left with us for our stay in Dallas by visiting some friends and relatives. The city has a sizeable community of Americans of South Asian origin. They include both Muslims and non-Muslims. A number of local radio stations operate round the clock, broadcasting programmes in Urdu, Hindi and Bengali.

The city has a number of mosques. We were taken by our host, Mr Shahab, to one which is located in Richardson. According to usual practice, there was a public school attached to it. But what impressed us more was a clinic inside the mosque’s premises where physicians attended to patients free of charge, indicating that the Muslim community there was well-organised.

At night, we attended a mushaira held in the premises of the Salaam-Namaste Radio. The mushaira was presided over byHaneef Akhgar, a senior poet living in the US for the last four decades. There were about a dozen other poets, including Iqbal Haider who retired from PTV as Executive Producer and is now settled there.

It was a short and hectic but indeed a fruitful visit.

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/080525/dmag8.htm

November 2007 .. 33rd Anuual Sir Syed Day Mushaira in Washington

33rd Anuual Sir Syed Day Mushaira in Washington
By Zafar Iqbal, PhD
Germantown, MD

The annual mushaira organized by the Aligarh Alumni Association of Metropolitan Washington (AAA) has become a literary and cultural icon of the area. This event attracts a large number of Urdu connoisseurs from Maryland, Virginia and nearby states.
More than 700 people came to listen to their favorite poets from Pakistan, India, and North America at the 33rd annual mushaira held in spacious auditorium of a High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland on November 3, 2007. It must be very pleasing for the AAA workers to see the growing popularity of the Washington mushaira.
The poets who participated in this year’s mushaira included Haneef Akhgar, Rahat Indori, Khwamakhah Hyderabadi, Zakia Ghazal, Akhtar Shumar, A. Abdullah, Shoeb Qidwai, Shahida Kazmi, Akram Mahmood, Qamar Kazmi, Razi Raziuddin, and Zaheer Parvez. Himayat Ali Shayer and Sabiha Saba could not come due to unavoidable circumstances.
The AAA president-elect, Dr. Fazal Khan invited Dr. Ayub Yusufi to start the program with recitation from the Holy Qur’an. Dr. Rahat Khan, Association's president welcomed the poets and the audience. Chief guest Professor Masoom Ali Tirmizi, former vice-chancellor of Karachi University, reminisced about his days as a student and then a teacher at the Aligarh Muslim University. Ever green nazim, Dr. A. Abdullah, conducted the mushaira with Janab Haneef Akhgar presiding over it.
Haneef Akhgar, a very well-known and senior poet in North America, writes classical poetry and recites it with a mesmerizing voice. A sample of his presentation:
Is tarah ahed-e-tamanna ko guzare jaeey Unko khamoshi ke lahje meiN pukare jaeey
Dekhiye ruswa na ho jae kahin rasm-e-junooN Apne deenwane ko ek patthar to mare jaeey
ChaRhte sooraj ke pujari, kal key sooraj ko na bhool Who bhi sooraj thaa, utrs, chaRha, utra gaya.
Rahat Indori has been participating in mushairas at international level for long time. He senses the pulse of the audience and knows how to convey the message with voice and actions.
Yeh qainchian hameN uRne se khaak rokeiN giN Ki ham paroN se nahiN hausloN se uRte haiN.
Khusk daryaon mein halki si rawani aur hai Ret ke neeche abhi thoRa paani aur hai.
Jo dar badar the who deewaroN ke maalik ho gaye Mere sab darban, darbanoN ke maalik ho gaye
Jo aaj sahib-e-masnad haiN, kal nahiN hoN ge Kirayedar haiN zaati makan thoRi hai
Sabhi ka khoon shamil hai yahanN ki miTTi meiN Kisi ke baap ka Hindustan thoRI hai
zindagi kiya hai khud hi samach jaao gey baarishoN maiN patangen uraaya karo
khauf bikhra hai dono simtoN main teesri simt ka dabaao hai kiya
Humor and satire are an integral part of Urdu literature and Khwamakhwah Hyderabadi knows it well how to keep the audience involved and still convey the trials and tribulations of life.
Hamari zindagi go ranj aur gham se ibarat hai Magar khushioN se moonh moR lena himaqat hai
Zarafat khwamakhwah fun hi nahiN hai, ek saadat hai Hansa kar gham kisi ke baanT lena bhi ibadat hai
Na hoti gar naee tahzeeb to kitna maza aata Jo chal jaati meri tarkeeb to kitna maza aata
Meri qismat meiN eik biwi aur do saaseN haiN Ulat jaati joy eh tarteeb to kitna maza aata
Zakia Ghazal’s poetry is as appealing as her voice. The audience enjoys her style of recitation with interest.
Woh dosti meiN Ghazal hadd se gir gae lekin MaiN dushmani ko nibha kar bhi apni hadd mein hooN
PaRh likh kar mere des ke beTe des meiN the bekaar Apne des meiN jo roTi milti kyoN aate is paar
Akhtar Shumar participated in AAA mushaira for the first time and he impressed the audience with his poetry.
Yaa apne paoN par mujhe girne se rok de Ya meri laghzishoN ko ibadat shumar kar
Kaash umr-e-rawaN Thaher jaey Koee muR muR ke dekhta hai mujhe
Shoeb Qidwai has been writing poetry for a long time, but he rarely participates in mushaira. He has a deep insight into life.
DoosroN se juda chalan apna Shaikh apna na Brahman apna
Jaane kal us pe kis ka qabza ho Koh apna, na hai daman apna
Akram Mahmood's poetry reflects the emotions of life.
ChhoRna ho ga zamane bhar ko tere waste Aur mere paas phir tu bhi kahaN rah jae ga
It is always a pleasure to listen to host poets that include A. Abdullah, Shahida Kazmi, Razi Raziuddin, Qamar Kazmi and Zaheer Parvez .
The event concluded with a vote of thanks by the AAA Secretary, Masood Farshori. An encouraging indicator of increasing popularity of Urdu was noticed by the demand for books and CDs of participating poets and recordings of previous years’ mushairas. The Washington community is pleased to have the privilege of participating in these literary events.

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پروفیسر ملک زادہ منظور احمد - لکھنئو ۔۔ تاثرات

چَراغاں

پروفیسر ملک زادہ منظور احمد

لکھنؤ

تاءثرات

فروری12, 1989ء

اس بات پر اختلافِ رائے کی گنجائش نہیں ہے کہ اردو غزل صدیوں کا سفر طے کرکے نئی جہتوں اور نئے امکانات سے آشنا ہوچکی ہے۔ مگر اس حقیقت سے انکار نہیں کیا جاسکتا کہ اس کا بنیادی مزاج حُسن و عِشق، ناز ونیاز، ہجر و وصال، اور شوق و انتظار کے موضوعات سے معَنوَن و منسوب ہے۔ بنیادی موضوعات کی یہی موجِ تہہ نشیں ہے جو تغزّل کا روپ اختیار کرکے اس صنفِ سُخن کو اردو شاعری کی آبرو بنائے ہوئے ہے، اور جو فنکار اس راز کو سمجھ جاتا ہے، اور فنّی التزامات

کے ساتھ اس کو برت دیتاہے وہ خود آبروئے غزل بن جاتا ہے۔

جناب سیّد محمّد حنیف اخگرؔ کی تشکیلِ فکر چونکہ ملیح آباد اور لکھنؤ ہی میں ہوئی ہے، اس لیے وہ دبستانِ لکھنؤ کے اُن تمام محاسن سے خاطر خواہ واقف ہیں، جو مُدّتوں کی ریاضت نے اس شہر کے ساتھ وابستہ کردی ہیں۔ بندشِ الفاظ کے نگینے جَڑنا، صنائع و بدائع کے التزامات کے ساتھ مُرصّع سازی کا حق ادا کرنا، اوزان و بحور پر فنکارانہ گرفت رکھنا، اور حُسن و عشق کی ہم آہنگی میں زندگی کے جو صحت مند عناصر مضمر ہیں، ان کا شارح اور ترجمان بن جانا ، جناب اخگرؔ کی شاعرانہ فتوحات کے روشن امتیازات ہیں۔ میں نے ان کا کلام جَستہ جَستہ پڑھا ہے۔ آپ اُن کے اشعار دیکھیے، آپ خود اِس نتیجہ پر پہنچیں گے کہ روایت کے صنم کدوں کا نُور اور اس کے مقدّس آتش خانوں کی آنچ انکے جذبات و احساسات کو جب شعر کے پیکر میں ڈھالتی ہے تو روایتی موضوعات بھی تازہ دم ہوجاتے ہیں۔ اور یہ اتنی بڑی سعادت ہے جس پر جس قدر بھی فخر کیا جائے کم ہے۔۔؂

کافر ہزار سہی، مگر اِس کو کیا کہیں

ہم پر وہ مہرباں ہے مسلمان کی طرح

اس قدر پھیلا تمنّا کا حصار

دل میں اب تیری تمنّا بھی نہیں

نگاہِ جلوہ طلب کا بھرم نہ کھُل جائے

وہ بے نقاب کہیں سامنے نہ آنے لگے

جب بھی اُس زُلفِ پریشاں کی ہواآتی ہے

ہم تو خوشبو کی طرح گھر سے نکل جاتے ہیں

آئنے میں ہے فقط آپ کا عکس

آئنہ آپ کی صورت تو نہیں

ہر قدم پر تیرا جلوہ دیکھنے کے واسطے

چشمِ حیرت کو نیا آئینہ خانہ چاہیے

یہ کیا کم ہے کہ اُس کی انجمن میں

چَراغوں کی طرح شامل رہے ہم

ہر اہتمام پئے برہمیء نظمِ حیات

کسی کی زُلفِ شکن درشکن میں کتنا تھا

خِلوَتِ جاں میں ترا درد بسانا چاہے

دل سمندر میں بھی دیوار اُٹھانا چاہے

ان اشعار میں روایت کا خون ضرور گردش کررہا ہے۔ مگر پیرایہء اظہار میں جو شِگُفتَگی اور تازگی ہے، اُس پر بھی ایمان لائے بغیر کوئی چارہ نہیں رہ جاتا۔

حُسن و عِشق کے موضوعات کے علاوہ اخگرؔ صاحب نے غزل کی ریزہ خیالی سے فائدہ اُٹھا کر کچھ ایسے اشعار بھی کہے ہیں جن میں بصائر اور تامّلات کے بہت سے پہلو پوشیدہ ہیں۔ اور یہی وجہ ہے کہ وہ صرف ہمارے جذبات میں مدّوجزر نہیں پیدا کرتے، بلکہ اُسی کے ساتھ ساتھ اُن کے افکار کی کرنیں ہمارے ذہن و دماغ کو بھی مُنوّر کرتی ہیں۔ سنجیدہ مسائل کو غزل کے نازک آبگینے میں اس خوبصورت انداز سے ڈھالنا کہ فکر کی جَوت سے فن کا پیمانہ بھی جگمگانے لگے، جناب اخگرؔ کی نمایاں خصوصیّت ہے۔

دیکھو ہماری سَمت کہ زندہ ہیں ہم ابھی

سچّائیوں کی آخری پہچان کی طرح

یہ سانحہ بھی بڑا عجب ہے کہ اپنے ایوانِ رنگ و بو میں

ہیں جمع سب مہر وماہ و انجم، پتا نہیں پھر بھی روشنی کا

دیکھیں اب اس سے جام بنے یا کسی کا دل

مٹّی تِری زمیں کی کفِ کوزہ گر میں ہے

ہم سےکیوں دارورسن پوچھ رہے ہیں اخگرؔ

بزمِ جاناں سے اٹھو گے تو کِدھر جاؤ گے

وہ ترکِ آرزو نہ سہی، آرزو سہی

کوئی دِیا تو خلوتِ دل میں جلا رہے

یہ بھی ہو شاید کوئی کارِ بہار

شاخ پر اب ایک پتّا بھی نہیں

ہر چند ہمہ گیر نہیں ذوقِ اسیری

ہر پاؤں میں زنجیر ہے، میں دیکھ رہا ہوں

لوگ ملنے کو چلے آتے ہیں دیوانے سے

شہر کا ایک تعلّق تو ہے دیوانے سے

یہ اور اسی طرح کے نجانے کتنے اشعار جو چَراغاں میں جا بجا بکھرے ہوئے ہیں، اس بات کا اشارہ ہیں کہ جناب اخگرؔ صرف اپنے جذبات کی شدّت اور اپنے سانسوں کی گرمی سے اپنے اشعار کی تخلیق نہیں کرتے، بلکہ فکرونظر سے کام لے کر انکشافِ ذات و کائنات کے ساتھ ساتھ بصیرت و آگہی کے بھی بہت سے پہلو پیدا کرلینے کا فن بھی جانتے ہیں۔

مجموعی طور پر زیرِ نظر مجموعہء کلام حسن و عشق کے موضوعات کے ساتھ ساتھ، فن اور فکر، بصیرت اور آگہی کی ایسی شمعوں سے فروزاں ہے جن کی روشنی اہلِ دل اور اہلِ نظر دونوں تک پہنچتی ہے۔

دورِ حاضر کی تنقید شاید اپنے منصب کا حق خاطر خواہ نہ ادا کرسکے، اگر وہ اُن رشتوں کی نشاندہی بعد کی نسلوں کےکلام میں نہ کرسکے، جن کی نمود جناب اخگرؔ کے کلام میں روایت کے حوالے سے ہوئی ہے۔ مجھے صرف امّید ہی نہیں بلکہ یقینِ کامل ہے کہ اُن کا مجموعہء کلام ہمارے ادبی حلقوں میں اعتبار حاصل کرے گا۔ ایک ایسےدور میں جب اُردو اپنے پُرانے مرکز سے آگے بڑھ کر بین الاقوامی سطح پر اپنی جمہوریت کو وسیع کررہی ہو، اُن شعراء کے کارناموں کو نظر انداز نہیں کیا جاسکتا، جنہوں نے اپنے خُونِ جگر سے غیر اُردو ممالک میں چَراغاں کیا ہے، اور تشنگانِ شعروادب کو اپنے کلام سےسیراب کیا ہے۔ اور مجھے یہ کہنے میں ذرا بھی تأمّل نہیں کہ امریکا کے اندر جنابِ اخگرؔ زبان و ادب کی جو خدمت کررہے ہیں وہ مثالی ہے۔

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