ISLAMABAD: Jashn-e-Rekhta, an annual festival celebrating the Urdu language, will bring to life celebrated poet Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan during its 2025 edition in Dubai via a life-sized hologram next month, the organizer said on Wednesday, offering an enthralling experience for millions of fans of the poet in the subcontinent.
Khan was born on Dec. 27, 1797, in India’s Agra city and was a well-known poet in the Persian and Urdu languages. Referred to popularly simply as “Ghalib,” he remains one of the most popular and influential masters of the Urdu language in both India and Pakistan long after his death in 1869. His poetry is characterized by sadness, the result of a tragic life that saw him orphaned at an early age and losing all seven of his children in their infancy.
Jashn-e-Rekhta is an annual event organized by Rekhta International Cultural Events since 2015. It celebrates Urdu and is dedicated to its language, literature and culture. The two-day festival will be held in Dubai from Feb.1-2 at the iconic Zabeel Park.
The event will bring together around 100 artists, poets and performers from India, Pakistan and other countries. Along with Ghalib’s hologram, another standout feature is the “Dial-e-Poet,” an artificial intelligence (AI) powered rotary phone booth that allows attendees to listen to the voices of iconic poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Jaun Elia and Ahmed Faraz.
“We will have a hologram display where a real life-size holographic image of Ghalib will appear and we, in fact, are calling it meet with Mirza Ghalib, as he actually narrates his two-and-half-minute speech,” Satish Gupta, the head of programs and festivals at Rekhta told Arab News over the phone from Dubai.
“It will be like he is attending the festival himself just to give his followers a feeling of actually meeting him.”
Gupta described the festival as “more than just an event,” calling it a celebration of Urdu’s beauty and its power to bridge cultures and bring people together.
The “Dial-A-Poet” experience features vintage rotary phones where visitors can dial specific numbers assigned to five iconic poets, including Rahat Indori, Ahmed Faraz and Faiz Ahmed Faiz, he said.
“Using advanced AI voice cloning, the phones play pre-recorded recitations of the poets’ works, offering a one-way interaction that brings their timeless poetry to life in an innovative and immersive way,” Gupta said.
He said the festival will feature around 10 to 12 programs featuring over 95 artists, lead performers and their teams.
“The lineup includes groups, bands and dance troupes from India, Pakistan and a Sufi qawwali group from Bali, Indonesia,” he added.
Gupta said the festival’s first day will showcase the debut performance of a women’s qawwali group presenting the essence of spiritual music.
“This will be followed by Piyush Mishra’s Ballimaaraan, exploring the cultural ties between Delhi and Lahore through music and Shafqat Amanat Ali’s Maah-e-Tamaam, offering a soulful and rhythmic musical journey,” he said.
The second day of the festival will feature a panel discussion on Urdu in films. Participants include prominent Pakistani actors Saba Qamar, Imran Abbas and Adeel Hashmi, Gupta said.
This will be followed by a session involving famed Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar and Pakistani screenwriter Zehra Nigah, who will discuss the connection between films and Urdu literature.
“Arfa Sayeda Zehra and Samina Peerzada will explore Urdu as a language of love and friendship, while Ali Sethi’s musical performance, Shaam Dhale, will conclude the festival on a romantic note,” he said.
In addition to the performances, visitors can enjoy the “Aiwan-e-Zaiqa Food Festival” highlighting South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines, or explore the Rekhta Bazaar featuring books, handicrafts and merchandise that celebrate Urdu’s artistic heritage, Gupta said.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army and foreign office on Wednesday rejected Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi’s recent statement in which he referred to Pakistan as the “epicenter of terrorism,” dismissing his remarks as an attempt to deflect the world’s attention from alleged brutalities in disputed Kashmir by New Delhi. 
In a statement on India’s Army Day on Monday, Gen. Dwivedi accused Pakistan of “orchestrating” infiltration attempts in India, describing Pakistan as the “epicenter of terrorism.” He said 60 percent of the “terrorists” India eliminated last year were of Pakistan origin. 
Nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan have fought two out of three wars over the disputed Himalayan Kashmir valley. Both claim the territory in full but administer only parts of it. India accuses Pakistan of arming militants in the Kashmir territory under its control, allegations that Islamabad has denied. Pakistan, on the other hand, accuses India of repressing the rights of Kashmiris in India and denying them the right of self-determination. 
“Insinuating Pakistan as the epicenter of terrorism by the Indian Army Chief, is not only contrary to facts, but also an exercise in futility to beat the dead horse of India’s default position — blaming Pakistan for indigenous reaction to state-sponsored brutality,” a statement from the army’s media wing said.
The Inter-Services Public Relations, the army’s media wing, said Dwivedi’s remarks were a case of “extreme duplicity” aimed to diverting the world’s attention from India’s “brutality” in the region of Kashmir under its control. 
The army said that such repression has only strengthened the resolve of Kashmiris for their right of self-determination, which is enshrined in the UN Security Council Resolutions.
“Instead of trying to conjure up a non-existent terror infrastructure in Pakistan, it would be wise not to indulge in self-delusion, and appreciate the ground reality,” the army said. “Pakistan takes strong exception to such baseless and unfounded statements.”
In a separate statement earlier on Wednesday, the foreign office rejected Gen. Dwivedi’s “baseless accusations and unfounded assertions.”
“Pakistan also underscores that provocative statements of this nature are counterproductive to regional peace and stability,” the foreign office said. 
Political tensions between the two countries have remained high since 2019 when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomy in 2019 and split the former state into two federal territories. 
Pakistan described the move as unilateral and illegal, saying it was aimed at tightening India’s grip on the Muslim-majority region. Islamabad suspended trade with New Delhi and downgraded diplomatic ties with its neighbor following the decision.