The Misuse of Poetry Recitations for Rhetoric

Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad delivering the lecture
People on the dais (from the left): the Chief Guest - acclaimed Urdu Novelist Padmashri Prof. Qazi Abdul Sattar, Urdu short-story writer Dr. Sabiha Anwar and Urdu poet Salma Hejab

Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad

Front row (from the left): Urdu short-story writers Mohsin Khan and Asmat Malihabadi (also a poet) and Urdu poet Javed Malikzada

The chief guest, the great Urdu novelist Padmashri Prof. Qazi Abdul Sattar

Urdu Short-Story Writer Nusrat Naheed speaking about her collection of Hindi short-stories Imli ka Ped (The Tamarind Tree), which was released on the occasion

Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad releasing Nusrat Nahid's collection of Hindi short-stories Imli ka Ped (The Tamarind Tree)
From the left: Nusrat Nahid, Prof. Malikzada M. Ahmad, Padmashri Prof. Qazi Abdul Sattar, Dr. Sabiha Anwar and Salma Hejab

"It is the art of poetry to make it relevant to all times what is relevant only to a particular period. And this a poet can achieve only if he or she abstains from being selective in the presentation of truth and tries to present the whole picture without any bias, and not a partial one. The portrayal of the Judeo-Christian West as the enemy of Islam and of Indian Muslims as traitors in the poetry recited at mushairas and kavi-sammelans respectively can never be condoned," said eminent Urdu poet Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad while delivering a lecture on 'The Misuse of Poetry Recitations for Rhetoric", under the auspices of Open Space at the Academy of Mass Communication, Lucknow, on 13th December, 2008. He added, "Poetry Recitations should continue to be tolerant to diverse views, but there should definitely be no place for provocative poetry, full of biases and prejudices." He also said: "Although mushairas and kavi-sammelans have accorded mass popularity, even if not literary stature, to a number of great poets, yet the people at the highest rung of the literary ladder have always looked down upon them, instead of trying to restore the pristine glory of our great traditions of Hindi and Urdu poetry recitations."

Acclaimed Urdu novelist Padmashri Prof. Qazi Abdul Sattar was the chief guest. Nusrat Nahid's collection of Hindi short-stories Imli ka Ped (The Tamarind Tree) was also released on the occasion. While the Open Space Fellow Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi compered the programme, the vote of thanks was given by Shabana Rizvi, Director of the Academy of Mass Communication, the venue. It was a very well attended lecture at which some of the greatest Urdu litterateurs of Lucknow were also present.

Biographical Details of Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad:
Eminent Urdu poet Prof. Malikzada Manzoor Ahmad has recited poems at thousands of mushairas (Urdu poetry recitations) and kavi-sammelans (Hindi poetry recitations) since 1949, in a number of countries other than India, viz., the USA, Canada, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Nepal and Pakistan.

• Editor, Imkan (Monthly Urdu literary journal)
• President, All India Urdu Rabita Committee

• Former President, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad Memorial Committee, Lucknow
• Former President, Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy, Lucknow
• Former Member, Executive Committee, University of Lucknow
• Former Professor, Department of Urdu, University of Lucknow
• Former Lecturer, Department of Urdu, University of Gorakhpur
• Former Lecturer, Department of English, Shibli Post-Graduate College, Azamgarh
• Former Editor, Navz (Urdu literary journal)

Author:

• College Girl, 1954 (Novel)
• Urdu ka Mas'laa, 1957 (Monograph)
• Shahr-e-Sukhan, 1961 (Poetry)
• Abul Kalam Azad: Fikr-o-Fan, 1964 (Critical Appreciation of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's writings)
• Abul Kalam Azad Al-Hilal ke Aaine Mein (Maulana Azad and Al Hilal)
• Ghubaar-e-Khaatir ka Tanqeedi Mut'aalaa (A Critical Appraisal of Ghubaar-e-Khaatir)
• Shahr-e-Sitam (Poetry)
• Raqs-e-Sharar, 2004 (Autobiography)
• Intikhaab Ghazaliyaat Nazeer Akbarabadi (An Anthology of Nazeer Akbarabadi's selected ghazals)
• Preface of more than 200 books

Recipient of the following awards:

• Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy Award for Lifetime Contribution to Urdu Literature
• Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy Award for the promotion of Urdu language
• Madhya Pradesh Urdu Academy Award for Lifetime Contribution to Urdu Literature
• Imtiaz-e-Meer from the All India Meer Academy
• Iftikhar-e-Meer from the All India Meer Academy
• Honour from the Khuda Baksh Library, Patna, for Lifetime Contribution to Urdu Literature
• Maekash Akbarabadi Award
• Harivansh Rai Bachchan Award
• Sufi Jamal Akhtar Award
• Firaq Samman from the Aalami Urdu Conference, New Delhi
• Momin Khan Momin Ghazal Award for Lifetime Achievement
• Faqr-e-Urdu Award from the Osmania University Ex-Students' Association of Greater Chicago
• Title of Sahitya Saraswat by Hindi Sammelan, Prayag