A Gojri writer from Pakistan occupied Kashmir’s PoK Abbaspur area, Latif Faizi, who had migrated to Abbaspur in 1947 was felicitated by a galaxy of intellectuals and social activist in Poonch here today.Former IPS officer and Ex-Vice Chancellor of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University BGSBU, Dr. Masud A Chaudhary, famous gojri writer and educationist, Mohammad Amin Qamar, urdu poet and writer, Abdul Ghani Jagal, famous gojri poets and writers, Khadam Hussain Qamar, Mohammad Ayaz Saif and Ghulam Sarwar Chouhan, senior PDP leaders, Ch. Lal Hussain Mushtaq and Javaid Choudhary, Ch. Talib Hussain, Ch. Mohammad Asad Noomani besides hundreds of others were present on the occasion.Ch. Mohammad Asad Noomani who also anchored the programme in introductory speech highlighted the struggle of Mr. Faizi who retired as senior officer in education department in PoK. Born in village Banbat of Haveli Tehsil in 1945, Faizi was particularly honoured for his efforts to promote spoken gojri in an otherwise Punjabi influenced PoK. Before joining education department, Faizi graduated from from Punjab University and did Law from Karachi University.
Faizi's family along with the family of Dr. Masud Chaudhary had migrated to Abbaspur where the duo lived and studied together in Abbaspur before Dr. Masud came back to his native village Kalaban. They met after 61 years.Mr. Faizi thanked the people of Poonch for felicitating him. He hoped that a day will come when the artificial line drawn arbitrarily between two parts of Jammu and Kashmir will be a thing of the past and the tragedy inflicted by the partition on the people Jammu and Kashmir shall come to an end. He was particularly impressed by the development of gojri language in Poonch and Rajouri.Dr. Masud in presidential address, asked Faizi to work for the upliftment and betterment of downtrodden sections of society. Dr. Masud hoped that the cross LoC points opened by the governments of India and Pakistan is part of an irreversible process of uniting the divided ethnicity on both sides of LoC. He further hoped that the movement of people across the LoC will not be restricted to the divided families. On the occasion, a Gojri mushaira was also organized in which several poets in their poetry highlighted the trauma of partition, local culture and the agony of continued separation of divided families.