Poets, scholars, researchers for digitalization of Shah Latif’s poetry

HYDERABAD, Sep 02 (APP): On the second day of the 280th Urs of the great sufi saint and poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, a literary (Adabi) conference was organized by the culture department Sindh, in which poets, scholars and researchers demanded for the digitalization of Shah Sain’s poetry, enabling his message to reach a global audience.

They also insisted the need to present “Shah Jo Kalam” in text, audio and video formats, as they said his message provides solutions of difficulties and challenges confronting humanity in modern era. Intellectuals highlighted that Bhittai’s thoughts still hold immense significance in today’s world, just as they did three centuries ago.

During his keynote speech at the Literary Conference Federal Minister of education, Researcher and Scholar Madad Ali Sindh expressed his concern that the young generation is not as familiar with Shah Latif, Baba Bulleh Shah, Baba Farid and other great poets’ philosophies and thoughts. He stressed the importance of introducing the youth to the rich literary heritage of these poets.

Sindh Culture Minister Syed Junaid Ali Shah, speaking at the conference, called for the utilization of modern means of communication such as online portals and web TV series, to spread Shah Latif’s message globally, similar to countries like Turkey. “The Bhittaipedia portal is a significant effort and it is hoped that it will effectively spread a message of peace worldwide”, he added.

The provincial minister suggested incorporating Shah Latif’s teachings into the national syllabus and ensuring their dissemination to the masses, Madad Ali Sindh, he said, could play a significant role in this regard at the national level.

Renowned writer Taj Joyo said that Mirza Qalich Beg and Dr. Nabi Bakhsh Baloch had written complete dictionaries of Shah but more research was required on it. Dr. Adal Soomro, in his paper said “Shah’s message is and will remain the message of every age:”. Prominent researchers including Dr. Azhar Shah, Mukhtiar Abro, Shaukat Ali Ujan, Hubbdar Jagirani, Altaf Memon and others also presented their papers.

Director General culture Munawar Ali Mahesar delivered the welcome address, while secretary culture Abdul Aleem Lashari delivered the concluding remarks, while reknown singers Barkat Faqir and Fakir Imtiaz Ali Sang performed in the program.

On this occasion, the pioneer of sindhi computing Abdul Majid Bhurguri, launched the online Bhittaipedia, he highlighted the importance of using technology to ensure that the younger generation engages with Shah’s message. He said the online Bhittaipedia offers texts in urdu, punjabi, persian and english along with various translations and added that Shah Sain’s message was translated into 130 languages by using artificial intelligence, and link of Bhittaipedia had been shared on literary websites in China, Russia and France, which was a remarkable achievement in promoting Sindhi literature worldwide.