LAHORE: “When other poets were still dwelling on the concept of separation, reeling from the Partition, Fahmida emerged as a unique poet who spoke about connecting,” said Abid Hussain Abid while speaking at a reference for Fahmida Riaz at the Safma auditorium.

“Unlike many other women poets of that era, Fahmida’s ‘woman’ was not limited to speaking about just one aspect but emerged as a complete person. This woman in her poetry was politically aware and socially conscious. She was not conscious of her every need and desire and did not suppress herself from expression, albeit never came across as jarring.”

A galaxy of literati and friends of Fahmida gathered to remember the loss after her death.

Fahmida was remembered by all as a women’s activist and student agitator, and for her counter narrative against dictators Ayub and Zia. She once also held a Mushaira in the Karachi Press Club during the Musharraf era.

In the Ayub regime, she brought out a pamphlet called ‘Awaz’. In 1964, in a magazine run by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi called ‘Fanoon’, her poetry was published for the first time. In 1965 her very first novel was published called ‘Pathar Ki Zabaani”. It was the first time a woman had written about romance in a manner very different from the other women who were in the forefront at that time.

She also translated Rumi and the masnavis of Sheikh Ayaz, a very eminent Sindhi poet as well ‘Shah Jo Risalo’. Imtiaz Alam said he had never heard the kind of forceful thinking that Fahmida had. Rumi, Shahbaz Qalandar, Sufi thought, Hindi diction, Sindhi culture are all found in her work. “She was bold but never abrasive. She was rather always gentle and soft spoken,” he said. She also formed the Progressive Women Writers Association.

Poet and writer Bina Goindi said Fahmida is an era which would never end. “It was like she had made a painting which people did not want to hang publicly, because they were scared of the truth.”

Dr Sughra Sadaf said Fahmida had now ‘freed’ herself of the shackles of society, that she used to stand up against.

Dr Saadat Saeed read out an essay about Fahmida and also recited some parts of her poetry. He said her work comprised Marxist and feminist influences, dwelling on issues of capitalism and patriarchy. She was also highly inspired by Faiz and his themes of romance and classicism.

In the 1980s, Fahmida’s magazine Awaz drew the ire of the Zia dictatorship. Her collection Badan Dareeda had come out in 1973 and was considered objectionable.

Murtaza Solangi read an essay about his first meeting with Fahmida in Karachi, reminiscing some bittersweet anecdotes. Veteran journalist Husain Naqi said the Left movement had given two important people to Pakistan, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Fahmida Riaz. He said she also contributed greatly to the awakening of women in Sindh and wrote several children’s books.

I.A Rehman said it was a milestone for women such as Fahmida Riaz to break taboos and stereotypes that had been imposed on them.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2018