Obituary: Pashto poet dies in road accident

Nizar Shamansoray organised literary sessions to promote Pashto poetry

PESHAWAR: A young poet, Nizar Shamansoray, died in a road accident in Dubai. His funeral prayers were offered in Shah Manoor, Swabi district on Tuesday. A large number of poets, writers and locals were in attendance.

Being an active member of the Emirate Adabi Pakhtu Tolana, the 40-year-old poet played an important role in organising literary sessions and promoting Pashto poetry, not only in his village, but also in Dubai.

“His sudden death is a great loss for Pashtu literature,” one of his friends, Sardar Khan, told The Express Tribune. “Pashto poets will always remember him and his mission will continue even after his death.” He added whenever Shamansoray visited his village, he would arrange literary gatherings in which poets from different parts of the province would participate.

Sardar maintained Shamansoray did a lot of poetry, but he had not published it in the form of a book.  Another friend, Muhammad Shahid, said, “He was a wonderful young poet and an extremely polite man.” He added Shamansoray always worked for promotion of Pukhtun literature.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2016.