LAHORE: Fiction writer and former lawmaker Bushra Rehman passed away here on Monday.

Funeral prayers for her were offered in Garden Town. She was unwell for the last one month after suffering from the Covid-19, as per some media reports.

Bushra Rehman was born in Bahawalpur in 1944. She did her MA Journalism from the Punjab University.

She was elected to the Punjab Assembly on a reserved seat for women in 1985 and then the 1990 elections. She served as an MNA on a seat reserved for women in 2002 and 2008.

Besides being a lawmaker, Rehman was also a distinguished novelist and columnist, having received the Sitara-i-Imtiaz for her achievements in literature in 2007.

In one of her interviews, she said he mother and elder sister were poets and she had got an atmosphere at home which was literary. She wrote her first short story when she was just 12 and started writing stories for a children’s magazine that was printed from Bahawalpur.

Bushra Rehman authored around 25 collections of short stories, novels, travelogues and newspaper columns. Some of her novels were Allah Mian Ji, Bahisht, Barah-i-Raast, But Shikan, Chaand Se Nah Khelo, Chaarah Gar, Chup, Ek Awara Ki Khatir, Khoobsurat, Kis Morr Par, Lazawal, Payasi, Lala Sehrai, Lagan, Sharmeeli, Tera Sang Dar Ki Talash Thi and Parsa among many others. Some of her novels were adopted for the PTV dramas, including Payasi and Lagan. She was known for writing travelogues too.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2022