LAHORE: On the opening day of the Lahore Literary Festival, a session, titled ‘Urdu Adab Aur Shairi Ki Teen Buland Shakhsiaat,’ was held to pay tributes to three women writers who passed away in recent months, namely Fahmida Riaz, Khalida Hussain and Altaf Fatima.

It was moderated by Asif Farrukhi, a regular feature in literary festivals across the country, while Yasmeen Hameed, Asghar Nadeem Syed and Masood Ashar, all known literary figures in Pakistan who also feature in many of the litfests held in Lahore annually.

Yasmeen Hameed threw light on Fahmida Riaz, saying that she knew the late poet more through her poetry than personality as she used to live in Karachi.

“Fahmida is usually remembered with a particular reference to her poetry based on resistance but her poetry should be revisited since she wrote on other topics too,” Ms Yasmeen said and added that Fahmida first poetry collection, Pathar Ki Zaban, appeared when she was just 20. She also mentioned another poetry collection, Badan Dareeda.

Asghar Nadeem Syed said Fahmida was not only a progressive writer but a fighter rather she was the name of a movement.

“Many of her poems are reaction to different incidents she deeply felt about. She never became a part of establishment. In her poem, Tum Bhi had discussed the phenomena of the sub-continent, she wrote about all woes written on the face of humanity,” Mr Syed said and added that Fahimda had had done an in-depth study of Sindh history.

Writer Masood Ashar said Fahmida was a rebel.

Talking about Khalida Hussain, Ms Yasmeen said the late writer’s short stories were unique. “She used to come up with details on emotions and feelings and she must be ranked with short story writers such as Nayyer Masood.

Ms Yasmeen was of the view that personal lives of the writers, especially of women writers, should not be discussed and the focus should be on their works.

Mentioning Khalida Hussian, Asghar Nadeem Syed said one could find traces of Intizar Hussain’s writings in her short stories. He said Khalida wrote extremely well on growing extremism in the society in some of her writings. He said Hussian never got married and used to teach at Islamia College, Cooper Road.

Replying to the comment of Mr Syed, Mr Ashar said that to some extent it was right that Khalida was under the influence of Intizar Hussian’s writings for sometime but later she developed her own style of writing. He said Khalida Hussain used to develop her story gradually and she had a separate identity in short story writing.

Mentioning Altaf Fatima, Mr Syed shared with the audience how she asked him to take picture of her house in Lucknow, India, when he went there in the 1990s.

“I took pictures of that house but when I went to Lucknow in 2015 but a plaza had been constructed in place of Altaf Fatima’s House”. He rated Altaf Fatima as one of the most important writers of the country.

Masood Ashar said Altaf Fatima’s novels such as Dastak Na Do and Chalta Musafir placed her on a higher pedestal. She was very nostalgic. “Altaf Fatima used to cook very delicious Shami Kebabs and she was very hospitable,” he remembered.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2019