KARACHI: Poet and short story writer Saeeda Gazdar passed away after a prolonged illness here on Thursday.

She leaves behind a son and a daughter.

Ms Gazdar’s family hailed from Allahabad, pre-independence India. She came to Pakistan after partition and later got married to eminent filmmaker Mushtaq Gazdar. The couple believed in progressive ideas, something that reflected in their creative pursuits. She wrote half a dozen books, including collections of poems, short stories and an Urdu translation of the Bengali novel Sareng Bau (Mallah Ki Biwi) by Shahidullah Kaiser.

She was known for her fearlessness as a poet and writer and her collection of stories Aag Gulistan Na Bani and a collection of poems, Zanjeer-i-Roz-o-Shab,are critically acclaimed books. The latter contains some poignant poems on the plight of underprivileged children.

Talking to Dawn, poet Iftikhar Arif said, “Saeeda was Dr M Sarwar’s sister. He was the student politics pioneer in the country. She used to co-edit [with Zahida Hena and Fahmida Riaz] the magazine Pakistani Adab. Her husband was Pakistan’s first documentary filmmaker. She was a fine poet and short story writer. Most of all, she was committed to the leftist cause.”

Ms Gazdar’s funeral prayers were held after Zuhr on Thursday at Masjid Tayyaba, Bath Island.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2024