The session titled Jo Dil Pe Guzarti Hai – Is Resistance Poetry a Diminishing Genre? was held in a packed hall at Alhamra Art Centre on the third and concluding day of the Faiz International Festival 2017 on Sunday. Renowned poet and essayist Harris Khalique moderated the session with acclaimed writers Amar Sindhu and Nasir Abbas Nayyar as panellists. Amar Sindhu talked about how the late intellectual and revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz was fortunate to have been born, raised and to have practised the art of poetry at a time when he did not face many criticism or restrictions. He was a liberal and was lucky to be living in a society which itself was liberal at that time. There was freedom for art, creativity, execution of thoughts and the acceptance of poetry. “Faiz Ahmad Faiz would not have been able to go ahead with his poetry had he faced such negativity from society, the kind poets face now. The kind of progressive thinker Faiz was, he worked and practised in the most ideal of times,” Sindhu maintained. “I think all respect and recognition of actual scholars has been lost in current times,” said Nasir Abbas Nayyar. He said people as well as the state were indifferent to the value our late poets, saints or even intellectuals stood for. “I hope everyone remembers that only recently, a politician Bilawal Bhutto handed out an award to someone for something noteworthy at a ceremony on the 274th urs for Sufi scholar Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai. He also laid a wreath on Bhittai’s shrine. Now, I would like to question if Bilawal even knew who Bhittai was and what his significance was in the field of poetry? I would have liked it better had a person knowledgeable enough about Bhittai’s contribution to Sufi poetry been there and placed that wreath. Bhittai was an unapologetic and a fearless poet, the kind we don’t have anymore,” he said. Sindhu stressed how the strong divide between races, classes, ethnicities and religions had affected poetic thought and announced her love for Indian poets and Pakistani poets alike. ‘If Ghalib or Habib Jalib were alive today, I assure you they would’ve been killed by now for all their progressive and liberal thoughts,’ a member of the audience said, to which all the panellists agreed “I have been a huge fan of late Indian poet Anand Bakshi and have been following all his writings right from the start. I will narrate a poem by him in which he writes about equality and love for humanity, regardless of religion or class,” Sindhu said. During an interactive session between the panellists and the audience, someone from the audience pointed out how media also played a big role in criticising the works of daring and liberal poets in the modern world. The panel agreed on media’s contribution to silencing freedom of expression and hence suppressing bold and meaningful poetry. Nasir requested all artists and creative poets to combat this fear and challenge and not suppress their poetic thought. Harris Khalique pointed out how Balochi poets faced this challenge the most in all their writings. An audience member asked the reason behind Pakistani society becoming so intolerant and critical towards art. He pointed out that a majority of Pakistani PhD scholars, highly learned fellows and ‘intellectuals’ graduating from foreign universities abroad, influenced their social media followers by absurdities regarding modern day poetry written liberally about topics considered taboo in the society. The panel agreed. “You see, if Ghalib or Habib Jalib were alive today, I assure you they would’ve been killed by now for all their progressive and liberal thoughts,” the member of the audience said, to which the panellists agreed. Sindhu talked about the trials Urdu language was facing in Pakistan. “Urdu has lost its muqaam and is no longer the language of power anymore. English is now. Urdu has now faced the same fate as that of Balochi, Sindhi, Pashto and all the other languages in the country. By the way, I’m a huge fan and admirer of Fahmida Riaz and I would like to point out how beautifully she writes in Urdu, which also has element of Sindhi in it. I stress on the fact that Urdu reading should be encouraged more so that it regains its hold in the country. It’s binding upon all of us to do that,” she said. Published in Daily Times, November 20th 2017.