Poetry and literacy event at Deeplish Community Centre

Dr A K Shakoor MBE

A poetry event took place at Deeplish Community Centre to encourage the local community to understand the importance of education and literature.

The evening on 24 December 2016 was arranged in partnership with the Multicultural Resource Centre, and featured presentations from local and national poets.

Retired Commander Chaudhry Mohammed Bashir was the main guest at the event, and presented his poem about the memory of migration to the UK. Mr Bashir is famous for his writing and poetry on the subject of migration - he has also written short stories for school children in Urdu and English to promote understanding of different cultures.

Also presenting poetry at the event was Manchester-based poet and linguist Zahid Zafar, local poets Majid Ajmi and Shahid Mehmood, and local councillors Mohammed Zaman and Aasim Rashid.

Councillors Zaman and Rashid were presenting as part of a local poetry group and said: “Events like this promote literacy and literature, which are a big part of the cultural heritage of South Asian communities. People enjoy being part of such literary events.”

Dr A K Shakoor MBE, a well-known poet and writer, concluded the event and paid tribute to retired Commander Bashir. He said: “Mr Bashir has given a very strong message through his poems to people who migrated to the United Kingdom in the early 1950s for better jobs and life opportunities. These people put a special focus in supporting, guiding, and educating their children so that they can become an integral part of British society.”

Deeplish Community Centre Chairman, Mohammed Saleem JP said: “It is always good to see diverse community programmes happening at the centre which strengthen our efforts to empower, educate and involve the local community in participating in local initiatives.”