DP Tripathi launched his book 'Celeberating Faiz' at a gathering of the Pakistani intellectual's admirers, writers, poets and journalists at a hotel here today afternoon.
An Indian politician chose Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary to launch his book on renowned writer Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the capital city of Pakistan's Punjab province today, saying the two historical figures had worked for peace throughout their lives.
DP Tripathi, who is the general secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party, launched his book 'Celeberating Faiz' at a gathering of the Pakistani intellectual's admirers, writers, poets and journalists at a hotel here today afternoon.
The book is a collection of some of Faiz's masterpieces in different genres and tributes by his family, contemporaries and scholars who knew him through his immortal poetry full of music, beauty, romance and revolution, Tripathi said.
"Gandhi and Faiz were great advocates of peace and love and I chose Gandhiji's birthday to launch the book on the great poet," Tripathi told PTI.
Faiz's poetry embodied "a love for humanity and spread flowers on flames", he said.
A Faiz Centre is being established in New Delhi and a two-day 'Faiz Conference' will be held in Allahabad from October 22, he said.
Tripathi, who is editor-in-chief of Think India quarterly, started his book with Faiz's editorial for Pakistan Times on February 2, 1948 that was written after Gandhi's assassination.
Three others from India—Ali Javed of Delhi University, Dharam Veer and P Mehr—paid tribute to Faiz at the book launch.
Noted Pakistani writer IA Rehman said poets could not be divided by borders. If Faiz's work has to be taken forward, there is a dire need for promoting peace as he wanted weapons of mass destruction to be thrown into the sea, Rehman said.
Owing to inability of the governments of India and Pakistan, the bridges which should have been built between the people of the two countries were not made and there is a dire need for such bridges, he added.
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