LAHORE, Nov 11: Glowing tributes were paid to Amrita Pritam at a literary reference arranged by the Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture at the Alhamra Art Centre here on Friday.

Columnist Munnoo Bhai described Amrita as a woman of great insight whose writings reflected the sufferings of the people around her. He said Amrita had the capability to understand life in depth and describe it realistically.

Sibtul Hasan Zaigham said Amrita was inspired by great writers like Allama Iqbal and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, and depicted the experiences of the people around her in her works.

Munir Niazi said Amrita had the capability to express her feelings in an effective manner. Her poem on the sufferings of women during the partition made her famous overnight.

Afzal Tauseef said Amrita was honoured despite the fact that she wrote in Punjabi which was one of many languages spoken in India, and her writings were translated in other languages because of their universal appeal. She said Punjabi had no future in Pakistan because the Punjabis had stopped studying it and were reluctant to speak it.