Daily Times

The latest edition of a Hindko language literary journal, ‘Kotal Rang’, has been published and is one of the 16 regular publications the Gandhara Hindko Academy brings out.

The magazine is devoted to poets, writers and figures hailing from the historic city of Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, says a press release on Monday.

The recent issue carries on the cover a portrait of late Malik Muhammad Rustum Kayani, popularly known as MR Kayani, who was a distinguished jurist and served as chief justice of West Pakistan from 1958 to 1962. Mr Kayani was born in Kohat on October 18, 1902 and passed away on November 15, 1962. The publication has been brought out under the guidance of Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, Patron-in-Chief of the Gandhara Hindko Board that runs the Hindko Academy.

Language research scholar and General Secretary of the Gandhara Hindko Board, Muhammad Ziauddin, is the editor and Ali Awais Khayal, the deputy editor of the Kotal Rang. Academy’s Director Dr Muhammad Adil heads the team comprising Nauman Qayyum, Saqib Hussain Ziaul Islam, Mudasir Zeb and Bilal Ahmed which has joined hands to bring the literary pieces into the fine print.

The journal’s editorial has urged the writers and poets from Kohat to come forward and contribute to the third issue of the publication through write-ups, pieces of poetry and other writings as the people of the area have talent that needs to be highlighted and introduced to other parts of KP where the Hindko language is spoken and understood.

Syed Masoom Shah Saqib has penned eight pieces, both in prose and poetry, in the journal. He is followed by Muhammad Ziauddin and Muhammad Jan Aatif who have four pieces each in the magazine. Munawwar Ahmad Advocate has penned two fictions for Kotal Rang which are moderate in length but grab the attention of the readers for their content.

There are write-ups by academicians such as Syed Imtiaz Gilani, former vice-chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Professor Muhammad Iqbal and Dr Matiullah Shah on various aspects of Kohat. The literary pieces have highlighted the role played by Kohat in producing intellectual men such as great poet Syed Ahmad Shah (internationally known as Ahmad Faraz), Muhammad Rustum Kayani and several others.