By Sadia Qasim Shah
“Pekhawar kho Pekhawar day kana” is a song, which speaks of a city bursting with life. Another song about Peshawar (pronounced as Pekhawar in Pashto), composed few years later, “Pa Pekhawar kay parhar ma jorhawa” speaks about the agony of a lover of Peshawar, who pleads that the bleeding city be spared when frequent terrorist attacks sucked life out of this city every other day.
Both these poems have been written by a sensitive soul, Fazle Subhan Abid.
Abid, only 46, is a soft spoken Pashto romantic poet. He writes about finer things in life like love and beauty but one topic which is recurrent in his poetry is Pekhawar. It is a symbol of a place for a Pukhtun, wherever he may be, to call his home.
Abid often speaks of love for Pakhtuns, their glorious past and Pakhtun luminaries in his poems but when he pens down his feelings about Pekhawar, he expresses his best. Abid hails from Dargai, Malakand yet the city of Peshawar is his beloved.
Since Abid himself earned his living by working abroad, he also speaks for those labouring in Middle Eastern countries and other cities away from their homeland.
Da Karachai da ranrhagano khaar kay wraka yara,
Da khpalay kharhay kusay heray na khray …
Ka Karachai pa ta wadana vi, wadana de vi,
Zama da zrah Pekhawar ma herawa
In this poem, Abid speaks for the Pakhtuns hailing from the rural parts of the province who work in Karachi, the city of lights. Peshawar, the beloved, calls for those lost in the city of lights and reminds them the dusty streets of their villages, which wait for their return.
It is sad that the poet, who has written so much about life, is silently losing his fight against hepatitis C without complaining. “The peoples’ appreciation of my lyrics encourages me to live,” he says.
Abid has been suffering from hepatitis for the last six years. His resembles that of great English romantic poet John Keats, whose life was also cut short by a disease (tuberculosis) and worsened by poverty.
Abid feels that his poetry would survive him. He has stopped writing poetry because of ill-health. For the last seven months or so his condition has deteriorated.
The treatment would cost him about Rs8 million but he has nothing except his talent and self-esteem.
He could not get any medical help and quietly went through the agonies accompanied with this disease. His self-esteem is so high that he didn’t disclose his deteriorating condition and money problems even to his friends.
In his famous poem “Pa Pekhawar kay parhar ma jorhawa”, he expresses how he suffers when Peshawar is bombed and destroyed. Now it seems if it is a case of unrequited love affair with Peshawar. He is victim of a bigger disease -- the apathy of the people of Peshawar and the provincial government.
The provincial government is letting this flower whither away. It has done nothing so far to show that it values those, who become the voice of the city.
Os ka da khkulo adagaanay staye
Abida da ba loy tawan kaway
Sanga ba wayem chay Pakhtun Shaer ye
Chay day qalam raparedalay na day
Yet Abid feels the compulsion of writing about the plight of Pakhtuns. Amid turmoil, he feels he can write about nothing but what he sees around him.
He feels he owes it to the people of this land to write and tell the world the truth about Pakhtuns.
It is ironic and somewhat sad that there are advocates, who want the provincial government to save a shabby house of Dilip Kumar in Peshawar city at whatever the cost may be. The last demand as price of the house was Rs80 million. Sadly, there is no voice to compel the government to save this precious soul, which always sings songs about Peshawar.
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