Book & Author
Fahmida Riaz: A Rebel Poetess & a Remarkable Writer
By Dr Ahmed S. Khan
Chicago, IL
Fahmida Riaz (July 28, 1946, Meerut, British India – November 21, Lahore 2018) is known as a rebel poetess and a remarkable modern Urdu writer. She belonged to a cluster of new stars, who appeared on the horizon of Urdu literature during 1960s and 1970s, which included the likes of Iftikhar Arif, Obaidullah Aleem, Amjad Islam Amjad, Javed Akhtar, Parveen Shakir, Kishwar Naheed, Mohsin Naqvi, Bashir Badr, and Rahat Indori.
Fahmida Riaz was born on July 28, 1945, in Meerut, UP, British India. After partition, her family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Hyderabad, Sindh. She lost her father when she was four years old and was raised by her mother Husna Begum. After completing her education, she worked as a newscaster at Radio Pakistan Hyderabad. After graduation from college, Riaz got married and went to England to live with her husband. During her stay in England, she worked at BBC’s Urdu Radio Service, and pursued a program in filmmaking. The couple had a daughter, but the marriage ended in divorce, and she returned to Pakistan. After her return, she worked for an advertising agency in Karachi and launched her own Urdu magazine Awaz. She wed Zafar Ali Ujan, a leftist political worker, the couple had two children.
Fahmida Riaz was a prolific writer; she authored more than twenty books of prose and poetry. But many of her writings stirred controversies. Her first poem was published in Funoon, edited by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, when she was only 15. Her first collection of poetry was published just after two months of her marriage at the age of 22. Her poetry collections include Pathar Kee ZubaaN (1967), Badan Dareeda (1973), Dhoop (1977), Apna Jurm Saabit Hai (written during self-exile 1984-1988), Hum Rikaab (1987), MaiN Mattey Key Mu’rat HooN (poetry collection 1967-1988), Aadmee kee Zindagee (1999), and Sub Lal-o-Goher (poetry collection 1967-2011). After the publication of her second poetry collection, Badaan Dareeda (Torned Flesh), critics accused her of using erotic phrases and expressions. The poems from her collection Apna Jurm Sabit Hay reflect her trials and tribulations during the martial law period.
Her fiction output includes Godavari (1995: novel), Zinda Bahar (novel), Karachi (1998: a novel on the state of Karachi), Khatt-e Mar’muz (2002: short stories), Gulabi Kabootar (2009: a short story), Qil’laa-e Fara’moushi (2017, novel on Mazdak), and Qaafilay Parindon Kay (2008), and Add’hoora Aada’mee (a narrative about the philosophies of German social psychologist Erich Seligmann Fromm). After the publication of her novel, Karachi, her critics pointed out again to her unwarranted use of graphic details and explicit language in describing sensual situations.
She was a gifted multilingual writer; in addition to Urdu, she was proficient in English, Persian and Sindhi too, which enabled her to translate couplets from Mavlana Rumi’s Deewan-e- Shams Tabrezi into Urdu, and Sindhi poetry of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Shaikh Ayaz into Urdu. Her major translation works are represented by Halqaa Mayree Zanjeer Ka (A Link of My Chain: translation of Sindhi poetry of Shaikhn Ayaz), Khulay Dar’reechay Say (From An Open Window: Translation of Persian poetry of Forough Farrokhzad), and Khaana-e-Aaab-o-Gil (Abode of Water and Clay: Translation of selected poems of Mavlana Rumi). She also wrote a number of books for children which included Our Bhitai (Translation of a selection from Shah jo Risalo by Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai).
She held top positions at the National Book Foundation and the Urdu Dictionary Board. She also received many awards at national and international levels. The Government of Pakistan bestowed upon her the Presidential Pride of Performance for Literature (Poetry), and Sitara-e-Imtiaz. The Sindh government gave her Sheikh Ayaz Award for Literature (Poetry). Again, her critics credit her awards and top government positions to her political affiliations to the party in power. They point out that literary giants like apolitical Razia Fasih Ahmed were never given any national awards despite her six decades of voluminous intellectual output.
During the 1980s Martial law, she and her husband Zafar Ali Ujan were the publishers of the magazine Aawaz (Voice); due to its outspoken content the government banned their magazine. Her husband was imprisoned, and while police were looking for her, in the guise of attending a Mushira, she fled to India, with her two children and sister. Recalling those days Fahmida Riaz had observed: “I was charged under Section 124A of the Pakistan Penal Code (sedition). I came here and my friend (poet) Amrita Pritam spoke to then prime minister (late) Indira Gandhi, who allowed me to stay in India." Once asylum was granted, her husband later joined her in India. During her seven years stay in Delhi she taught at the Jamia Milia Islamia University in Delhi.
Many of Fahmida’s admirers were surprised and shocked when she opted to stay in India and sought help for asylum from Indira Gandhi. Fahmida’s critics point out that her actions were quite different from her anti-establishment literary contemporaries; Faiz Ahmed Faiz opted for Lebanon and UK for self-exile: Ahmed Faraz went to the US, the UK, and Canada; Habib Jalib remained at home and preferred to spend the time of resistance in jail; none of them opted to stay in India during their self-exile. Her critics also point to the dichotomy of her struggle and stand; she, belonged to the middle-class, stood for the rights of the poor haris and yet politically she supported the group of untouchable, powerful waderas.
After Benazir Bhutto became the prime minister of Pakistan, the couple, not finding the freedom they were in search of, returned to Pakistan quite disillusioned; she expressed her frustration viz a viz rise of the Hindutva. In one of her poems, Tum Bill’kul Hum Ja’say Nick’lay, she exposes the reality of Naya Bharat (New India); the poem was recited in the Indian parliament also:
Tum Bill’kul Hum Jas’say Nick’lay…
You turned out to be just like us
Where have you been hiding so far brother
That ignorance, that foolishness
Lost a century stumbling in the past
Eventually the end has come for you
Congratulations, many congratulations!
Your ghost of religion is dancing
You will establish all-Hindu rule
Whatever you do will turn out to be upside down
You will devastate your own garden
Your degree of preparedness is similar
Who is a Hindu, and who is not?
You will also issue the fatwa!
It will be difficult to live here too
It will be challenging to survive
But will manage some how
Here everyone will be out of breath too
Repeating echoes of education can go to hell
Now you should sing the songs of ignorance
Do not look forward to the approaching ditch
Would you bring back time?
Just practice, and maybe it will come
Keep walking backwards
Do not pay attention to what comes to mind
Just keep looking backwards
Keep on chanting the same mantra
How great was India!
How glorious was India!
Then you will arrive
You will reach the next world
We are already there
Keep taking some time out
From that hell where you arrive
Keep writing letters!
Urdu readers all over the world enjoy her exquisite poetry reflecting various facets of romance, life and struggles. Her popular poems include Aab Soo Jao (Go to sleep now), Bhaitha hay meray sam’nay wo (He is sitting in front of me), Tum Bill’kul Hum Jas’sey Nick’lay (You turned out just like us), Zaaban’noN ka Bosa (The kiss of tongues), Pather key Zubaan (The language of stone), Aik Auraat key Hansee (A woman's laughter), Aik Raat key Kaha’ney (The story of a night), Chadaar Aur Char Dewari (The veil and the domains of home), Aik LaR’key say (From a girl), Inqualabi Aurat (The revolutionary woman), Aabd (Forever), Kub Tak (How long), Muqaabla e Husn (the beauty contest), Sooach (Thought), May’ray haath (my hands), and Tahneyat (Congratulations). The following sample of her poetry reveals the mastery of her craft.
Tasveer
Meray dil kay nihaaN-khaanay maiN ik tasveer hay may’ree
Khuda jaa’nay us’say kiss nay bana’aya, kab bana’aya tha
Yah posh’eeda hay may’ree dostooN say aur mujh say bhi
Kabhi bhoo’lay say lay’kin maiN us’say gar daikh lay’tee hooN
Us’say khud say milaauN to may’rah dil kaanp jaata hai
Portrait
Deep in the nooks of my heart lies a picture of myself
God knows who created it and when
It remains concealed from me, and my friends
Accidently if I catch a glimpse of it
In comparing it to myself, my heart trembles.
Fahmida Riaz’s lifelong quest for — good health, intellectual companionship, and inner peace — concluded in Lahore on November 21, 2018, when she left this earthly abode. But, in death she remained a rebel too; the rebellious trait of her craft is evident from her poem Taazee’yatee Qaraar’daadaiN (Condolence Resolutions):
Chums! Just do me this favor
After my demise, spare me the anguish
Do not issue me a certificate of the follower of the faith
In passionate extempore oration
Do not say “this lady was Momin (a pious believer)”
Do not strive to justify my loyalty to the country and the nation
Do not attempt to convince the establishment to own my corpse
Pals, Pals,
The taunts of the mean spirited are the honors for me
They may not be able to come to the pulpit, if
Not less are my admirers
The reality of the truth is hidden in the being
The dust and wind being my soulmates
Do not be unfaithful to them
For seeking favors of the judges
Do not say “Corpse seeks forgiveness”
My mate
If I could not be shrouded
Do not worry
Take my remains and leave them in the jungle
This thought is so comforting
The beasts would feast
Without gauging my thoughts
My bones, my flesh, and my strong shinning ruby-red heart
Happily devouring everything
Satisfied with their bellies full
Licking their lips
The gleam in their eyes will reveal a truth
My chums, that you would never be able to say
This corpse is of that mortal
Who said what ought to be told
And never regretted a bit!
(Dr Ahmed S. Khan (dr.a.s.khan@ieee.org) is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar (2017-2022)
