Remembering the greats: Ghani Khan’s memory reverberates at cultural night

Singers, intellectuals and poets share their memories of the great philosopher.

PESHAWAR: As part of the centenary celebrations of legendary Pashto poet and philosopher, Ghani Khan, Pakhtunkhwa Adabi au Kalturi Tolana held a concert at Spring Village Hall on Friday night.

The organisation aims to preserve the rich culture and literature of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) along with the philosophy of Ghani Khan by organising such events. Singers, intellectuals and poets shared their memories regarding their meeting with Ghani Baba, while a large number of people gathered from different walks of life to participate in the function.

“Under the present circumstances, there is a great need to remember the people who have rendered sacrifices for Pukhtuns,” said famous poet, intellectual and founder of the organising society, Aseer Mangal. “Ghani Khan was not only a poet, but also a philosopher whose work can lead our society in the right direction.” Mangal added that it is high time for Pukhtuns to focus on conserving their rich art, culture and literature.

He pledged to arrange more such programmes to pay tribute to the great philosopher.

Amjad Shahzad, himself a poet and singer, was the first to perform different ghazals of Ghani Khan, including ‘Na soz sho na rang sho’ and ‘Tol jehan de starge starge nishta starge da sanam,’ among several others.

Sahib Gul, a music composer and singer performed ‘Ghani wokrho dasay gham’, along with other ghazals during the night, while Rashid Khan performed ‘Mastana Saqi Rasha’ to great applause from the audience.

“Though it is no easy task to perform the ghazals of Ghani Khan,” said Gul. “We try our best due to the love we feel for the great man.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2014.