Noted writer Fahmida Riaz laid to rest in Lahore

LAHORE: Noted poet and writer Fahmida Riaz, who died a day earlier from a protracted illness, was laid to rest at the Bahar Shah graveyard in Lahore on Thursday evening.

Her funeral prayers were held at Jamia Masjid Askari I in the provincial capital. A large number of people from all social strata attended the funeral prayers and paid a rich tribute to her for her services in the field of literature.

Prominent among those in attendance were poets Amjad Islam Amjad, Fatima Hassan and human rights activist I.A. Rehman.

The deceased had been suffering from illness for the past few months. She had come to Lahore from Karachi to visit her daughter.

Fahmida Riaz, author of more than 15 books on poetry and fiction, was born into a literary family of Meerut (India) on July 28, 1945. Her first poetry collection ‘Pathar ki Zuban’ (Language of Stone) was published in 1967.

Fahmida Riaz had fought a long struggle for the rights of women and democracy. She penned Godaavari, Khatt-e Marmuz, and Khana e Aab O Gil, the first translation of the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi from Persian into Urdu.

She also lived in self-exile for more than six years in India during the regime of former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq.