LAHORE: The Progressive Writers Association (PWA) held a special session on Saturday at Pak Tea House to commemorate the 101th birth anniversary of prominent progressive writer, translator and dramatist Razia Sajjad Zaheer (1917-1979).

Paying tributes to Razia, Tanvir Ahmed Khan termed her a towering writer of novels and plays who also did a number of translations. He lamented that none of her books was available in Pakistan.

Khan said Razia was equally good a writer as her husband, Sajjad Zaheer, but somehow she could not get the kind of recognition she deserved. He said Razia also wrote a wonderful novel, Ghalib.

Javed Aftab said it was a special session for Razia Sajjad Zaheer.

He said researcher and writer Ahmed Saleem had called him from Islamabad and said that if he would have been well, he would have participated in the special occasion.

Muhammad Jawad, an educationist, short story writer and classical singer, threw light on different aspects of Razia Sajjad’s life and works.

Rauf Malik said Razia’s works were not less important that those of Sajjad Zaheer by any measure. He said Razia wrote a story for children at the age of eight, titled ‘Fatehmand Chuntian’ which was published in children’s magazine Phool. Before her marriage she used to write under the name of Razia Dilshad and after marriage she started writing as Razia Sajjad.

He said Razia kept the letters Sajjad wrote to her during his prison days in 1940-1942 and the same letters were later published in a book, titled Naqoosh-e-Zindan.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2018