Fahmida Riaz paid tribute

LAHORE: A seminar was held at the Government College University, Lahore to pay tribute to eminent progressive poet and prose writer Fahmida Riaz who has passed away last year in Lahore.

Dr Veerta Ali Ujan, the daughter of Fahmida Riaz, attended the seminar which was also addressed by novelist Prof Ikram-Ullah, Urdu critic Dr Ithseham Ali, GCU Urdu Department Chairperson Prof Dr Khalid Mehmood Sinjrani and writer Asim Kalayar.

The speakers hailed Fahmida as the pioneer of feminist literature in Pakistan, saying that she was a brave lady who never compromised on her principles. She was famous for her revolutionary and contrary to tradition poetry. Prof Ikram said apart from authoring more than 15 books, Fahmida was also a women’s rights activist. Her first literary work was published in 1967, titled ‘Pather Ki Zuban’. Her collection of poetry includes ‘Dhoop’, ‘Pura Chand’, ‘Admi Ki Zindagi’ and many more. Prof Ikram said Fahmida always portrayed women as fighter in her fiction writings. Dr Veerta said her mother herself was a fighter as at one time she had been doing three jobs to fulfill the economic needs of her family. GCU Majlis-e-Iqbal Advisor Dr Safeer Haider also spoke.