WEB DESK
Noted Progressive Urdu writer, poet, human rights activist and feminist of Pakistan Fahmida Riaz passed away in Lahore today after prolong illness. She was 72. She is survived by three children, one daughter and two sons, from two marriages.
She was author of Godaavari, Khatt-e Marmuz, and Khana e Aab O Gil, the first translation of the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi from Persian into Urdu.
When Badan Dareeda, her second collection of verse, appeared in 1973, she was accused of using erotic and sensual expressions in her poetry. The themes prevalent in her verse were, until then, were considered taboo for women writers.
The author of more than 15 books on fiction and poetry she has always remained at the center of controversies. When Badan Dareeda, her second collection of verse, appeared, she was accused of using erotic and sensual expressions in her poetry. The themes prevalent in her verse were, until then, considered taboo for women writers.
She has also translated the works of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Shaikh Ayaz from Sindhi to Urdu. Fahmida Riaz fled General Zia-ul Haq’s religious tyranny and sought refuge in India and spent seven years there.
The poems from her collection Apna Jurm Sabit Hae reflect her homeland’s experience under the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. By reputation, Riaz stands alongside Nazim Hikmet, Pablu Neruda, Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.
Fahmida Riaz was born on 28 July 1945 in a literary family of Meerut, UP, of British India. Her father, Riaz-ud-Din Ahmed, was a educationist, who had been involved in mapping and developing the modern education system for the province of Sindh. Her family settled in the city of Hyderabad following her father’s transfer to the province of Sindh.
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