PESHAWAR - Speakers at a seminar Sunday asked Vice Chancellors of University of Peshawar and University of Balochistan to award honorary Ph.D degree to Hamesh Khalil, a writer, poet, and researcher for having scholarly 66 books to his credit in his 66 years of active service to literature.
“Hamesh Khalil, 84, is not only a writer, poet, researcher, critic, political activist, fiction-writer, coloumnist, but is also the name of a great era and which stretch from his first book written in 1948 till today”, said Dr. Hanif Khalil while shedding light on Hamesh Khalil’s life and work at Saleem Raz Lecture Hall of Research Library Peshawar on Sunday.
He said that Hamesh Khalil is one of the pioneer builders of Pashto literature and Pashto journalism as evident from his initial journals of Dawraan (time), Jamhoriat (Democracy) and Bagaram newspapers.
Dr. Hanif said that Hamesh remained associated with the political philosophy of Bacha Khan; however, when the nationalist parties deviated from the simple teachings of Bacha Khan and got indulged in worldly corrupt practices, he left the party and devoted his full energies to scholarly research.
Founder of World Pashto Congress, Saleem Raz, talked about his 50-year association with Hamesh Khalil and said, “despite of being a strict critic and researcher, Hamesh Khalil is a noble, humble and friendly man, and is free of all prejudices and biases. He said, “Hamesh Khalil has not only discovered, edited and compiled the works of 12 classic poets and brought to light the unpublished works of Khushal Khan Khattak, but also wrote excellent critical reviews and biographical sketches of modern day poets and writers.”
In his remarks, Dr. Perveiz Mahjoor said Hamesh Khalil’s works should be compiled into different volumes and requested Hamesh Khalil to write his autobiography which will be a fair account of the political and literary history of Pashto.
Founder of the Library, Dr. Fasihuddin said that Hamesh Khalil’s work needs to be translated into Urdu and Pashto as it is full of creative thinking and trend-setting examples.
Dr. Chiragh Hussain said, “it is only the credit of Hamesh Khalil who searched for the manuscripts of classic books and then edited and published those works by his own which has made possible the preservation of Pashto literary history.