Literati condole death of Pashto scholar Pervez Mahjoor

PESHAWAR: Pashto literary associations, writers and research scholars have condoled the death noted research scholar and an authority on Sufism, Prof Dr Pervez Khan Mahjoor Kheshgi.

Prof Dr Pervez Khan Mahjoor Kheshgi died late Saturday night and was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard on Sunday. He was 68. A large number of literati, research scholars, former students, Peshawar University faculty members, and notables of the area attended his funeral prayer.

He left behind a widow, two sons and a daughter to mourn his death. Pashto literary associations and writers have expressed deep sorrow over the sad demise of a great Sufi scholar and termed it an irreparable loss to the treasure trove of Pashto language and literature. Prof Dr Abaseen Yousafzai, Prof Dr Nasrullah Wazir, Prof Dr Roohullah and others said that Mahjoor was the pioneer of Sufi research in Pashto literature because most scholars found the topic beyond their mental journey but he through his extensive study resolved numerous issues in the Pashto classical texts and paved way for the budding literati.

They said that Mahjoor had explicated many issues on metaphysical topics through his in-depth study. The research scholar Mahjoor had authored, compiled, and edited more than a dozen books in both Pashto and Urdu. He was also considered an authority on Sufi literature in Pashto. He had started his career as a primary schoolteacher in his village and ended up as an associate senior university faculty member. He remained involved in research works even after getting retirement in 2011. Widely acclaimed by literary circles in Balochistan, Afghanistan, India, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for his contribution to Sufi literature, Prof Pervez Mahjoor had profusely contributed to Sufis thought and had conducted his doctorate thesis on Mulla Arzani Kheshgi (1523-1619), a leading classical Pashto Sufi poet.He also wrote for children and penned down a book in Urdu ‘Gharelu Sanaatein’ (cottage industries) and supervised around 20 PhD scholars during his tenure as a teacher at Pashto Department, University of Peshawar.