KARACHI: Resistance poetry has had a major impact in shaping the trajectory of states around the world. Be it poetry written at the time of the French Revolution, verses that depicted the 1857 War of Independence`s tragic yet historic end, or post-Partition greats such as Faiz, Manto and Jalib writing against state oppression and censorship, resistance poets remain significant long af ter they are gone. And to celebrate the works of such poets and prose writers, the Desi Writers` Lounge (DWL) hosted an evening called `Fasl Umeedon Ki (The Harvest of Hope)` at the Alliance Francaise on Monday.

With a purpose to `recognise the power of resistance literature in South Asia and beyond,` DWL tapped into the oeuvre of various poets and writers at different periods of historic significance to `allow a collective voice to be heard against social tyranny, oppressive regimes of verses that give hope and courage.` It was also an ode to many who have laid down their lives while working towards society`s betterment, names that included the likes of Sabeen Mahmud and Parween Rahman of the Orangi Pilot Project.

The evening began with the recitation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz`s `Yeh Fasl UmeedonKi`, also the inspiration behind the title of the programme, by Farheen Zehra.Then followed Ali Azfar reading out an essay about the history of Urdu resistance poetry. He began by quoting verses of the Bahadur Shah Zafar which was followed by a long line of successors to poetic resistance against the state and the powers that be. Hali, Jalib, Faiz and even Ahmad Faraz, all were given space in the essay and their contributions acknowledged through their verses.

Adnan Jaffar and Tariq Raja then read out Jalib, Josh Malihabadi and Sahir Ludhianvi. But it was the contemporary poet Afzal Ahmed Syed`s `Hamein Bahut Sare Phool Chahiyen` that stole the spotlight. The flowers he refers to in the poem are for the dead who never cease to appear in the city, day in day out; for the woman who is shot dead for no apparent reason; for the girl stripped of her dignity and respect. For Afzal Ahmed, the city needs a lot of flowers that may help to hide the horrors it is home to. The poem was much appreciated and the presence of the poet in the audience only added to the significance of the poem in contemporary times.

Regional poetry was also given due space with different revolutionary poets representing the four regional languages.

Imdad Hussaini was chosen from the domain of Sindhi poets and couplets byKhushal Khan Khattak were recited who is believed to have laid down the foundation of Pushto resistance poetry.

Amrita Pritam`s poem `Waris Shah`, read out by Fahad Bhatti, though believed to be addressed to the legendary Punjabi Sufi poet could have been written for anyone from the province, and beyond. The poem had images of the wailing daughters of Punjab, fields lined with corpses and poison mixed in the river water that led to the land sprouting venom and hatred. This was followed by couplets of Balochi poets Gul Nasir Khan and Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi. Brilliantly recited by Madad Ali with English translations by Afia Aslam, the fiery resistance in the verses was overwhelming. Dastango Fawad Khan read out Sayeed Nagvi`s short story titled `Khudkush Bambar`. Adnan Jaffar of the theatre group Qissah Farosh read out Jalib`s seminal work `Main nay uss se yeh kaha` that questions why the conscience of hundreds of millions of residents is asleep, in the darkness and not willing to emerge in the light. He calls them the living dead.

French poetry was also part of the of fering with the director of the Alliance Francaise reading out poems by Robert Desnos and Paul Eluard.

The evening ended with a group performance of a poem by Pablo Neruda.