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NORTH AMERICAN Newsline SEPTEMBER 15, 2023 | The Indian Eye 32

GOPIO-Metro Washington Hosts 15th Annual

Bilingual Independence Day Poetry Recitation

OUR BUREAU
Arlington, VA
vents like this not only serve
as platforms for poets to share
Etheir work but also contribute
to the preservation and promotion of
languages and their poetic traditions.
They help bridge the gap between
generations and cultures by showcas-
ing the timeless beauty of Urdu and
Hindi poetry,” said Mr. Jag Mohan,
Minister for Community Affairs, Em-
bassy of India. Mr. Jag Mohan was Former senior IAS officer Dr. Ashok Narayan, Community Affairs Minister Jag Mohan,
inaugurating the Fifteenth Annual GOPIO-Metra Washington Dc Founder President Dr. Renuka Misra
Mushaira-Kavi Sammelan on Sunday
20, 2023 at the Central Library in Ar-
lington Virginia. He expressed his ap-
preciation for the organizers of such a
unique literary event. Along with Min-
ister Jag Mohan, First Secretary Adi-
ti Walunj at the Embassy also joined
and stayed for the entire program.
The Aligarh Alumni Association,
Washington DC (AAA-DC) started
the annual Mushaira-Kavi Sammelan
program to celebrate the Indepen-
dence Day (Yaum-e-Azadi) program lishment, which was started in 1975 Audience at the Bilingual Kavi Sammela
with the collaboration of Global Or- with the main objective of providing
ganization of People of Indian Origin financial assistance for education to
of Metropolitan Washington (GO- the needy and meritorious students
PIO-Metro) in 2008. associated with the University. Along
The Mushaira Kavi Sammelan is with this, one of the objectives was to
a wonderful cultural event that brings connect the South-Asian community
together poets and enthusiasts of both in America through art and culture.
languages to showcase their literary A group of people sitting in chairs
talents and celebrate the Ganga Ja- Description automatically generated
muni Tehzeeb. This annual event has On behalf of the GOPIO-DC, its
become a hallmark of cultural activi- founder president Dr Renuka Misra
ties in the Metro Washington area and welcomed the audience and said that
its increasing popularity is evident by we have been doing a combined pro-
the number of community organiza- gram of Mushaira-Kavi Sammelan
tions joining hands. The Embassy of since its inception 14 years ago.
India has been supporting the event An important aspect of this an-
since its inception. The Embassy also nual event is to recognize local liter-
hosted the First Bilingual Poetry rec- ary figures by providing a platform to melan were presided over by retired Vishakha Thakar and Yusuf Rahat.
itation program with the AAA-DC showcase their work. Several poets Indian Administrative Services (IAS) A group of people standing in
and Metro-GOPIO in 2011. and authors in the past have released officer Dr. Ashok Narayan who is front of a table Description automati-
A rich tribute was paid to Dr. Sofia their books at our programs. Some of based in the Washington DC area cally generated
Abdullah, one of the founding mem- them are Professor Satyapal Anand, now. Poets who presented their po- Senior poets of the Metro-
bers of the AAA-DC and the wife of Professor Asghar Wajahat, Dr. A. etry were; A. Abdullah, Abdur Rah- politan Washington area Abdur
Dr. A. Abdullah. She had been a strong Abdullah, Dr. K. Mohan, Mr. Raj man Siddiqi, Anis Chaudhary, Ashok Rahman Siddiqi, Ashok Narayan,
motivator and supporter of the Asso- Kumar Qais, Mr. Anadi Naik, Dr. Narayan, Astha Naval, Aziz Qureshi, Aziz Qureshi, and Gulshan Mad-
ciation throughout her life. Dr. Sofia Astha Naval, Mr. Dhananjaya Kumar Daler Deol Aashna, Gulshan Mad- hur were felicitated for their valu-
Abdullah died on 15th August 2023. Mrs. Rashmi Sanan, Mrs. Daler Deol hur, Jamal Qadri, Kiran Nath, Madhu able contributions to literature.
The program started with a brief Aashna, and Mr. Surender Deol, Dr. Maheshwari, Marghub Alam, Mo- Afzal Usmani did the nizamat
introduction of the Aligarh Alumni Salman Akhtar, Professor Gopichand hammed Akbar, Narendra Tandon, of the poetry recitation session with
Association by its president, Ms. Ai- Narang, and Surinder Deol to men- Preethi Govindaraj, Razi Raziuddin, remarkable literary skill. His interjec-
sha Khan. She apprised the audience tion a few of them. Sabiha Saba. Sarwar Iqbal, Sukesh tion of appropriate poetry while intro-
about the motive behind its estab- The Mushaira and Kavi Sam- Chopra, Vandana Singh, Vinita Tiwari. ducing poets was very effective.

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