Literati from across the borders pay tribute to Shamim Hanafi

Acclaimed Indian Urdu critic, dramatist brought modernism to Urdu drama

KARACHI:

Literati from Pakistan and India paid rich tributes to Indian Urdu critic, dramatist, and intellectual Shamim Hanafi who passed away on May 21.

An online session was organised at the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP) Karachi’s Josh Mlihabadi Library in memory of Hanafi.

Expressing his views online from India on the occasion poet Ranjeet Singh Chohan said: “I cannot express how saddened I am to hear the loss of Shamim Hanafi. He was my companion; the last time when he traveled to Pakistan I accompanied him. He will always be remembered.”

ACP Literary Committee Chairperson Dr Ambreen Haseeb Amber said, as brilliant and exacting as he was with poetry, Hanafi was a gentle, kind soul in his personal life. “Hanafi was saddened that Urdu dramatists didn’t narrate the drama as it should have been, he himself wrote many plays in Urdu and Hindi language also he translated many plays from the Persian language,” said Dr Ambreen

Joining from India, Khalid Javed said: “Hanafi’s death is a great loss to Urdu literature.” Hanafi was an art lover, he loved theatre, music, paintings, and wrote many plays for radio too.

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Addressing the event online, Pakistani playwright Asghar Nadeem Syed said he had known Hanafi for the last 50 years, the last time when he came to Pakistan; he told me ‘this is my last journey, I won’t come again’.”

Mubeen Mirza said: “I first met him in the first International Urdu Conference, held at Arts Council. In the last 13 years, Hanafi was a frequent participant of the Urdu Conference. We have lost many great personalities in this pandemic.”

Nasir Abbas Nayyar while reminiscing about Hanafi said that he had a deep connection with art and was a nature lover.

Concluding the event chairperson of the literary committee of the Arts Council, Dr Ambreen paid regards to all the participants on the behalf of Ahmed Shah, president of the council.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2021.