LAHORE: The Lahore Arts Council (LAC) on Thursday held a reference in memory of iconic playwright and fiction writer Dr Enver Sajjad at the Alhamra Art Center, The Mall.

Mian Ejazul Hassan, Muneeza Hashmi, Tauqeer Nasir, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Khalid Abbas Dar and others including his daughter Priya Sajjad spoke about various aspects of his life and works.

Dr Sajjad, who was also an actor, dancer and painter, was one of the progressive writers and received accolades throughout his life from other well-known writers.

Mian Ejazul Hassan said Dr Sajjad was truly artistic in his style. He wrote many great plays and short stories. “He was a kindhearted person and a great humanist who always used his pen to support the exploited segments of society. He was undoubtedly a role model for the younger generation,” Mr Hassan said.

He said Dr Sajjad would charge Re1 fee at his clinic but he would not charge even that from the poor.

Lahore Arts Council chairman Tauqeer Nasir said Dr Sajjad as a writer adopted a logical and thought-provoking style and highlighted injustice in society.

Muneeza Hashmi said he was a doctor by profession but his contribution to literature is matchless. She remembered the good old days when Khalid Saeed Butt, Farooq Zameer and Dr Sajjad used to work together as the pioneers of the PTV. He was a jolly fellow who would always crack jokes, she said.

Asghar Nadeem Syed also euologised Dr Sajjad who, he said, was a very honest person and highlighted the value of social justice through his writing. He portrayed the ground realities of society through his drama and short stories and was a great teacher.

“Dr Sajjad had stopped writing many years ago but the Indian writers recognised him as a modern short-story writer,” he said.

Dr Sajjad’s play Chauraha won him wide applause for depicting the miseries of a middle class family, recalled Khalid Abbas Dar. The litterateur, Mr Dar said, could sense the pain of society and knew how to present it.

LAC Executive Director Ather Ali Khan said Dr Sajjad was a gifted voice-over artiste besides being a playwright and fiction writer. He was truly artistic in his illustration of ideas and wrote about sensitive topics in a simple way, said Mr Khan. His daughter Priya Sajjad also reminisced the memories of her father who, she said, fought for democracy. He was a fearless and unconventional person. As a father, he would take her to book fairs and drive her around Lahore roads, she said.

She regretted that some media reports claimed that Dr Sajjad was in need of financial assistance. “My father did not need any support and his reputation was tarnished by such reports,” she said.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2019