Urdu being a link language and a symbol of composite culture can play a critical role in bringing India and Pakistan closer and reduce tensions, poets and academicians feel.
"It is important to have friendship with Pakistan. It has been 26 years, on the night of 14th and 15th August, we light candles at the border. When I started this there were 10-15 people but last year there were 1.5 lakh people chanting slogans like 'India-Pakistan Zindabad' and 'Urdu Zindabad'," veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar said.
He was presiding over the 17th Jashn-e-Bahaar Mushaira at DPS Mathura Road here last night.
"The partition on lines of religion was wrong but let bygones be bygones. People want to meet each other. They share the same language and culture. The Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb has to be preserved," he said.
Thousands of lovers of Urdu poetry enjoyed the evening of verses. From politics and burning issues of our times to philosophy of life, poets created a rich canvas of Urdu.
The poets who enthralled the audience with their verses included Kishwar Naheed, Amjad Islam Amjad and Ambarin Hasib from Pakistan, Dr Abdullah Abdullah from the US, Ashfaq Hussain Zaidi from Canada, Omar Salim Al-Aidroos from Saudi Arabia and Zhang Shixuan from China.
India was represented by eminent poets like Wasim Barelvi, Khushbir Singh Shaad and Popular Meeruthi among others. Mansoor Usmani conducted the mushaira with his customary elan.
On the sidelines of the Urdu symposium, the country's biggest such non-political event, poets from India and Pakistan agreed that Urdu can play a critical role in bringing the two nations and their peoples together.
"Urdu belongs to everyone. It is not related to any religion or class. It emerged as a link-language. Therefore it does not belong to one but to everyone. Urdu is the flag-bearer of India's composite culture," eminent poet Wasim Barelvi told PTI on the sidelines of the event.
"Urdu can become a medium to bring India and Pakistan close to each other. But for that to happen exchange between Urdu poets is not enough, Hindu poets also need to go there. You have to reach the heart of the Hindi society as well. The two languages will bring them closer," he said.
