District to observe 300th birth anniv of poet Waris Shah
Jalandhar, October 26
The district language department is going to celebrate the 300th birth anniversary of legendary Punjabi Sufi poet Waris Shah. The programme will be held at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall. Residents have been asked to reach the hall at 10.30 am to know about the poet in detail as four scholars will be reading their papers on Waris Shah.
These scholars are the Director, Kala Sanghian College, Dr Ram Murti , Dr Balwinder Singh Thind, Assistant Professor, Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Droli Kalan, Jalandhar, Prof Ajay Kumar Arsh from Government College, Talwara and Prof Meena Sehrok from Ferozepur. The birth anniversary is being celebrated in every district in the state.
But ironically, even when the department is celebrating Waris Shah’s 300th birth anniversary at such level, two books titled ‘Waris Shah’ and ‘Heer: Syed Waris Shah’ are not available anymore with the department.
‘Waris Shah’, the book with 418 pages was first printed in 1970 and the 284-page book ‘Heer: Syed Waris Shah’ was first printed in 1976. As per the information available, these books are not available with the department.
Interestingly, a copy of ‘Heer’ written by Sufi poet Waris Shah that was owned by Shaheed Udham Singh himself is displayed here at the Yadgar Hall. The pages also have the signature of Shaheed Udham Singh.
Talking about Heer, historian Chiranjilal Kangniwal had earlier shared that the book that was owned by Udham Singh was in possession of England-based Babu Karam Singh Cheema, a founder-member of the Indian Workers Association (IWA) in the UK. He was given a copy by Udham Singh.
After the death of Karam Singh, his son Sohan Cheema handed over the copy to the Yadgar committee. The book also had a great influence on Udham Singh’s life as he always had the feeling of love for his country and its people, Kangniwal said.
