‘We should read Shah Latif if we want to compete with the world’

HYDERABAD: Shah Latif’s poetry guides us in every walk of life. We should read Shah Latif if we want to compete with the world.

Poet and secretary general of the Sindhi Adbi Sangat Dr Zulfiqar Siyal made these remarks at the closing ceremony of Shah Latif Children Festival at the Sindh Museum, Hyderabad, on Sunday.

He praised the children who participated in the festival. Poet Dr Adal Soomro lamented that private schools had stopped teaching Sindhi. He said every household should have Shah Jo Risalo, the collection of Shah Latif’s poetry.

University of Karachi Sindh department faculty member Dr Sher Mehrani said that after seeing children’s enthusiasm in the poetry of Shah Latif, it seemed that the Sindhi language would remain safe.

He called for holding the children’s festival on an annual basis. Terming Shah Jo Risalo an encyclopedia, he said the book contained all human emotions.

Poet Dr Rukhsana Preet said the teachers were responsible for teaching Latif to the children because his poetry had a message of love for the country.

The secretary of the Sindhi Language Authority, Dr Ehsan Danish, congratulated the organisers on the success of the festival and said every region of Sindh had been represented in the fair.

He added that the potential of Sindh could be seen at the festival. He expressed the wish that all our children were familiar with Shah Latif and his poetry.

At the end of the closing ceremony, a music competition was held under the title "Balak Sur Mandal," in which famous singer Saif Samijo participated.