KARACHI: The Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu marked International Women’s Day on its premises on Saturday by inviting women authors whose works it has published.

A diverse range of writers, including poets, researchers, academics, novelists and columnists, was present. Each author was invited to the lectern to speak briefly about their book and their association with the Anjuman.

First up was Dr Fatema Hassan, feminist writer and poet, who spoke about her book Zay Khay Sheen:

Hayat-o-Sha’eri ka Tahqeeqi aur Tanqeedi Jaiza that focused on a significant but now forgotten poet of the pre-partition era, Zaheda Khatoon Sherwania. She had died when she was barely 27 years old. “Her contemporaries such as Allama Iqbal and Akbar Allahabadi were beholden to her talent so much so that Iqbal said that ‘had she lived longer, she would have been my equal’.”

According to Dr Hassan, it was a challenging task to do research on the young poet as her poems were published mostly in magazines and as far as she knew no one had written an authoritative book on her.

Other than poetry, Zaheda Khatoon was a fervent nationalist who wholeheartedly supported the Khilafat movement going as far as collecting funds for its activities and even helping bail out such Khilafat leaders as Maulana Zafar Ali Khan from jail.

She was also a prolific letter writer, said Ms Hassan.

“I managed to get hold of 200 letters that Zaheda Khatoon had written to Laila Khwaja, the wife of Khwaja Hasan Nizami [prominent figure of the freedom movement], to whom she was very close because they belonged to the same age group and their families had known each other for long.”

The letters reflected the maturity of her thoughts and her sensitivity to the burning issues of the time, she added.

The next speaker was newly elected Senator of the MQM Khushbakht Shujaat who narrated how her book Ferozaan Chehray came to be published in 2009 and how she was able to get much-needed funds for the Anjuman, thanks to her book, which was in dire straits at the time.

“I had completed writing my book about 10 years before it was published but never got round to doing anything about it. It was only when I met Hasan Zaheer and Jamiluddin Aali who encouraged me to have my book published by the Anjuman that this book came into being.

However, my most cherished memory relating to Ferozaan Chehray is that I was able to get one crore rupees from then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for the Anjuman who announced the money at its book launch. And today I am pleased to see that the funds have been well utilised.”

She then went on to read the foreword of her book and bowled everyone with her beautifully constructed sentences, which she articulated in her well-modulated voice.

This is hardly surprising, for Ms Shujaat before becoming a full-time politician was a well-known debater and hosted many a TV show interviewing several prominent personalities. Her book is, hence, based on one of her shows, Chehray, that featured such towering personalities as Akhtar Hussain Raipuri, Majnoon Gorakhpuri, Ahmed Saeed Nagi, Guljee, Bano Qudsia, Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi and Shaista Ikramullah.

Sarwat Sultana, Urdu lecturer at the Mohammad Ali Jinnah University, discussed the genesis of her book Kahavatoun ki Dictionary.

“Like Khushbakht Shujaat, I belong to Bhopal and my household was also immersed in a literary atmosphere primarily because of my aunt’s husband [khaloo] who was an education secretary at the time and many of his friends were people of literary interests who often dropped by. Also no conversation of my parents was devoid of sayings or proverbs. All these influences inspired me to write the book.”

Hardly anyone has done a critical analysis of Quratul Ain Hyder’s works other than her famous Aag ka Darya, said Prof Raees Fatima, also a columnist with a well-known Urdu daily.

“My book Quratul Ain Hyder kay Afsaanay — Ek Tanqeedi-o-Tajziyati Mutalia thus focuses on her significant short stories that are timeless.”

She cited Hyder’s stories Nazara Darmiyan Hai, Singhardaan and Faqeeron ki Pahadi as some of the stories that she analysed.

Prose writer and columnist Zahida Hina, who was one of the final speakers, couldn’t stop chuckling over the fact that the Anjuman was doing a function paying tribute to women writers since its founder Maulvi Abdul Haq had aversion to women.

She took the occasion to pay tribute to the first lady of Urdu poetry Ada Jafri who recently passed away. “In my opinion her most significant work was the compilation of some of the best ghazals of the classical poets titled Ghazalnuma.”

Others who spoke were Dr Sadaf Fatima, lecturer at Karachi University who has written a book on travel writings by women from 2000-2012, and Dr Nuzhat Abbasi who has authored Urdu kay Afsanavi Adab main Nisai Lab-o-Lahja.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2015

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