LAHORE, Sept 7: Noted short-story writer and playwright Ashfaque Ahmed Khan died here on Tuesday morning after a protracted illness. He was 79. He was laid to rest at the Model Town graveyard later in the evening.

A large number of people from all walks of life - educationists, writers, senior and junior radio and television artists, bureaucrats, military officers, and others - attended his funeral.

Ashfaque Ahmed is survived by his wife Bano Qudsia, also a short-story writer, novelist and playwright, and three sons - Aniq Ahmed, Anees Ahmed and Aseer Ahmed. His eldest son, Aniq, who is settled in the United States and was here for a few days, had gone back only a few hours before his father passed away.

Doctors had diagnosed malignant cancer in his pancreas early this year and he was bed-ridden for quite a few weeks due to his illness. Born on Aug 22, 1925, in village Garh Muksar, Ashfaque Ahmed obtained his early education in his native district, Ferozepur, East Punjab. Shortly before independence in 1947, he came to Lahore and did his MA in Urdu from the Government College. Bano Qudsia was his classmate at the GC.

Ashfaque Ahmed, who had begun writing short stories before independence, started teaching at the Dyal Singh College after completing his MA. After a couple of years, he went to Rome to join Radio Rome as an Urdu newscaster.

During his stay there, he also taught Urdu at a university and learnt Italian. He also learnt French in Paris and went to New York to obtain a diploma in radio broadcasting.

Returning to Pakistan, he took out his own monthly literary magazine - Dastaango - and joined Radio Pakistan as a script writer. He was made editor of the popular Urdu weekly, Lail-o- Nahar, in place of Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabasum by the government of Field Marshal Gen Ayub Khan which took over the Progressive Papers Limited (PPL) in the early 1962. He was later made Director-General of the Markazi Urdu Board, which was later renamed as the Urdu Science Board, a post he held for 29 years.

In 1962, Ashfaque Ahmed started his popular radio programme - Talqeen Shah which made him immensely popular in the people in town and village. The programme is still being broadcast by Radio Pakistan.

His popular TV plays includeAik Muhabbat Sau Afsanay, Uchhay Burj Lahore Dey, Karvan Sarai, Tota Kahani, Lekin, Qila Kahani, Hairat Kadah and Mun Chalay Ka Sauda. He wrote about 25 books, including a travelogue.

He was a recipient of the President's Pride of Performance and Sitara-i-Imtiaz for meritorious services in the field of literature and broadcasting. According to writer and critic Ashfaque Naqvi, Ashfaque Ahmed was regarded by many as the best Urdu short-story writer after Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai and Krishan Chandar following the publication of his Gaddarya. It was difficult to say whether he was a better playwright or a story writer, Mr Naqvi told Dawn.

"He got public recognition after he started his radio programme Talqeen Shah which featured a man with double mask. This radio feature brought out hypocrisy in our society. His TV plays - Aik Muhabbat Sau Afsanay - won him a large number admirers," Mr Naqvi said.

In the Zia period, Mr Naqvi said, he wrote plays for television with a religious bias. "In the later period of his life, he was largely inclined towards sufism and became a mystic."

Recounting his meeting with Ashfaque Ahmed a few days ago, he said: "He talked mostly about sufism. He believed that anyone, even a bureaucrat, could be a sufi. Anyone could give you a direction."

CONDOLENCE: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has expressed his profound grief over the death of Mr Ashfaque Ahmad. In a condolence message, the President recounted services rendered by the late writer for Pakistan and to literature, APP adds. He prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed soul in eternal peace.