Rawalpindi: (Parliament Times) A condolence reference in memory of most senior poet of Urdu and Saraiki language Shaida Chishti was arranged by different literary bodies of Rawalpindi/Islamabad in collaboration with Punjab Council of the Arts.
The reference was presided over by prominent fiction writer and recipient of Tamgha-i-Imtiaz Hafeez khan while Tahir Baloch and Pir Ateeq Chishti anchored the reference. Wafa Chishti, Hamid Shahid, Naseem-e-Sehar, Farkhunda Shamim, Abdul Qadir Taban, Rehman Hafeez, Saleem Shehzad, Anwar Fitrat, Jahangir Imran, Naveed Malik, Nusrat Yab and others participated in the reference. In his presidential address, Hafeez Khan said that he had good relationships with Shaida Chishti and every relationship was important. The area and the family to which Shaida belonged, are known for love, he added.
Wafa Chishti said that his death was not just his personal but it was collective loss which grieved literary circles of the region. Naseem-e-Sehar said that the death of Shaida Chishti was a great loss to literary activities also.
The speakers said that the vacuum created in Urdu literature by the demise of Shaida Chishti would never be filled. A number of poets and intellectuals attended the ceremony. At the end of the reference, special prayers were offered for the elevation of the departed soul.
