Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi are part of a 20-member Indian delegation that is visiting Lahore to participate in Faiz’s 100th birth anniversary celebrations.
Khoon Ke Dhabbey Dhulain Ge Kitni Barsaton Ke Baad? (How many more monsoons will it take to wash away the bloodstains?).
It is with this verse, penned by the eminent Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, that Javed Akhtar greeted the media and his hosts from the other side of the border.
All had gathered at Wagah to welcome the lyricist and his actress-activist wife Shabana Azmi to Pakistan on Friday.
Akhtar and Azmi are part of a 20-member Indian delegation that is visiting Lahore to participate in Faiz’s 100th birth anniversary celebrations.
Other members of the delegation include singer Ila Arun, filmmaker MS Sathyu, theatre actors Rajendra Gupta and Lubna Salim, writers Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari, and film scholars Asghar Wajahat and Suresh Chabria.
“This is for the first time that I have crossed the border on foot. It is a strange experience,” Akhtar told DNA in a telephonic interview from Lahore. “When you take a flight, you get the feeling that you are going to a place far away. But this time, we just walked from our country into Pakistan,” said the lyricist who had last visited Pakistan 12 years ago with a peace delegation. Azmi said Faiz is not only her favourite poet but was also like an elder brother to her father, poet and lyricist Kaifi Azmi. “He was my father’s best friend. I grew up reading his poetry. It always manages to lift my spirits,” she added.
Week-long activities, including ghazal nights, mushairas and poetry recitals, are on in Lahore. The celebrations will end on Faiz’s birthday on February 13. Fans of Faiz’s poetry are holding functions in several cities across the subcontinent. In India, events are planned in Delhi and Lucknow.
The Mumbai-based Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) has also organised a programme on February 14 to pay tributes to the poet.
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