All written works of Abdul Rahman Pazhwak being printed: Farhad

KABUL (Pajhwok): Pazhwak Foundation head Farhad Pazhwak on Wednesday expressed concern about what he called “a cultural vacuum” in the country, resulting from government’s inattention.

Pazhwak was talking to Pajhwok Afghan News on the sidelines of a new printed book “The Fables of People” of Prof. Abdul Rahman Pazhwak, poet, journalist and diplomat who died in 1995.

Farhad Pazhwak, who is grandson and a student of Abdul Rahman Pazhwak, said  “The Fables of People” contained many good short stories especially “Wazifa” (duty).

He said Wazifa was  a real story dating back to the era of Ahmad Shah Abdali, but other stories were imaginary evolving around the roots of Afghan culture.

The Fables of People is printed in 126 pages by the Pazhwak Foundation and with support of Sanayee Development Organization and Massoud Karokhel Foundation.

Abdul Rahman Pazhwak was a writer, journalist and diplomat. He was born in 1919 in Surkhrod district of eastern Nangarhar province and died in 1995 in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar.

Farhad Pazhwak said the Pazhwak Foundation was established six years ago and since had been active promoting culture and art.

“This is a national and independent foundation which has so far organized many cultural events as well as printed several literatures of Abdul Rahman Pazhwak”, he said.

Farhad Pazhwak plans to print more works of his grandfather including a collection of poems in near future.

“As a grandson and student of Abdul Rahman Pazhwak, it is my duty to collect and print all written works of my grandfather, it would be also a service to our society,” he said.

To a question why his grandfather did not collect his written works during his life, Farhad said, “My grandfather was a religious man and he did not care enough about collecting his works, therefore his friends and family would collect them.”

He said 60 percent of written works including quotes and poems of Abdul Rahman Pazhwak remained unprinted.

Parwin Pazhwak, a granddaughter of Abdul Rahman Pazhwak, is also following the footprints of her grandfather. Her poems and stories have a special importance among the youth, said Farhad.

However, he expressed concern about the current cultural situation in the country and said: “The country is facing a major cultural vacuum, the culture has seriously damaged, something is still ongoing, all values are replaced by politics and the government also does not care about it.”

He said the problem could be solved through communications, discussions, analysis, studying and writing and the government should strongly support culture activities and works of writers.

mds/ma