ISLAMABAD: Renowned poet, teacher and civil servant Parveen Shakir’s 24th death anniversary was observed on Wednesday.

In the morning, members of the Parveen Shakir Trust and its chairperson Parveen Qadir Agha visited the H-8 graveyard, where prayed and laid wreaths on her grave.

Shakir began writing at an early age, and her first volume of poetry, Khushbu, was published in 1976. She went on to write a newspaper column titled Gosha-i-Chashm and received a Pride of Performance award for her outstanding contribution to literature.

She also worked as a teacher for nine years before joining the civil service and was appointed to the Customs department.

Shakir died in a road accident on Dec 26, 1994. Her car collided with a bus near Zero Point due to traffic lights that were not functional because of power cuts. The road on which she died was later named after her.

Her unique honour was that when she appeared in the Central Superior Services examination in 1982, there was a question regarding her poetry on the exam.

Ms Agha told Dawn a large number of people came to Islamabad to visit Shakir’s grave.

“Although 24 years have passed, the people still love Parveen Shakir and her poetry is as famous as it was over two decades ago. She was a true patriot of Pakistan,” she said.

She added that the Soyem Majlis of Nasreen Shakir, Shakir’s sister, will be held today (Thursday) at the Jamia Sadiq Imambargah in G-9/2. The Quran Khawani will begin at 4:30pm, followed by the Namaz-i-Magriban and Soyem Majlis.

She said Nasreen Shakir, 68, was a homeopathic doctor and had been living in Islamabad. She died on Dec 23.

“Although she had desired to be buried in Karachi, a flight could not be arranged, due to which the deceased was buried at H-11 graveyard on Tuesday,” she said.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2018