AMU organises launch of ‘Songs of Aligarh’

Agra: Aligarh Muslim University's Sir Syed Academy on Tuesday organised the launch of ‘Songs of Aligarh' comprising poems on nature and culture by Prof Sami Rafiq.
Dedicated to Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the book contains poems about the AMU campus and Aligarh city. The event was attended by professor Sukrita Paul Kumar, prof Naima Khatoon, vice chancellor, AMU, along with professor Farhat Hasan (University of Delhi), award-winning author prof Shafey Kidwai, director, Sir Syed Academy, and prof Aysha Munira, along with other faculty members and students.
VC Naima Khatoon congratulated prof Sami Rafiq for bringing out the collection of nature poems and commended Sir Syed Academy and its director for organising regular literary discussions, enriching AMU campus's academic life.
Prof Farhat Hasan praised the book for expressing a deep sense of anguish about environmental degradation. Making a neat distinction between historians who document everyday life and a poet who articulates a different everyday nature of conflict, he praised the book for documenting everyday conflict within a person and in his environment.
Prof Shafey Kidwai drew a parallel between famous Urdu poet Majaz's poem ‘Raat aur Rail' and Rafiq's ‘Aligarh Junction', adding that romantic poets always speak of nature, but Rafiq's poems are beyond romanticism, as these are concerned with everyday city life, degradation of the environment, loss of flora and fauna, and destruction of places and natural habitats.