Staff Report

Daily Times, October 03, 2007

ISLAMABAD: Poetess Sarwat Mohiuddin on Tuesday launched the first ever Punjabi translation of noted Hungarian poet Sandor Petofi’s selected poems at the residence of Hungarian Ambassador Bela Fazekas. Three collections of her poems have already hit the stores.

Petofi is an icon of the 500-year long struggle of the Hungarians for their independence. There are numerous similarities between the poetry of Petofi and Poet of the East Allama Iqbal, and Iqbal had written a poem to pay tribute to the Hungarian poet.

Speaking to participants of the ceremony, Hungarian Ambassador Fazekas said the Punjabi translation of Hungarian poet’s works revealed the great cultural ties that bound the Hungarian and Pakistani nations together. He said the Punjabi language translation of the Hungarian poet Petofi could be considered as a contribution to the celebrations of 125th anniversary of the Punjab University, which was founded by a Hungarian scholar, professor Leitner in 1882.

Discussing the ongoing debates in the intellectual circles of the world about clash of civilisations, Fazekas said the publication refuted the concept. He said with the publication of the Punjabi language translation of the Hungarian poet’s work, people of the two countries had joined hands in the name of poetry, which transcended geographic and intellectual boundaries.

Underlying the importance of public diplomacy, the Hungarian ambassador said people to people relations made greater contribution to the friendship and cooperation between two nations than official contacts. “Official contacts are about high-level visits, about agreements, about governments which are normally coming and going, while people to people relations are about the minds and hearts of the people, about those tiny secrets of each individual which make us as a nation interesting for each other,” he pleaded.

A Pakistani scholar Dr A Munim Khan, who was the only person present at the function speaking both languages, Hungarian and Punjabi, said the translation of the poems was powerful. He said Sarwat Mohiuddin did an excellent job as she succeeded to capture the cultural ethos of Petofi’s poetry in her translation.

Pakistani Academy of Letters Chairman Iftikhar Arif said the translation was good addition to the existing literature and would help Pakistanis to understand the great work of Hungarian poet. Former Foreign Secretary Akram Zaki also praised the book and said such efforts should continuer.

Poetess Sarwat Mohiuddin later recited the Punjabi version of selected poems, which was greatly admired by participants.