Lahore: Noted Pakistani progressive Urdu writer, poet and women’s rights activist Fahmida Riaz died in Lahore at the age of 73 after a prolonged illness. She was suffering from illness for the past few months. She breathed her last at a local hospital in Lahore on Wednesday night. She lived in self-exile in India for nearly 7 years.
Fahmida was born in 1945 in a literary family of Meerut, UP, India. Later when her father was transferred to Sindh province her family settled in Pakistan’s Hyderabad.
Fahmida authored over 15 books on fiction and poetry. Due to the liberal and politically charged content of the magazine ‘Awaz’, General Zia-ul Haq charged her and her husband with various cases. During General Zia ul Haq’s rule over 10 cases were filed against her.
When Fahmida was charged with sedition, she fled to India on the excuse of attending a mushaira. During her stay in India she had been a poet in residence for Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi. She returned to Pakistan after Zia ul Haq’s death.